Nights Together
by 0-Memento-Mori-0
Summary: The Devil was never meant to fall in love. At least, he wishes that were the case.
1. Movie Nights

Of all the things he'd been subjected to in the time he'd been stuck here, contracted to this teenager- this _child!_-, he didn't think he was ever as annoyed as when these nights rolled around. He'd been forced to do inconprehensible levels of bullshit tasks, including anywhere from taking care of her when she was sick, to household chores, to charity work. He'd been forced to perform acts so demeaning they made his blood boil; she'd even _grounded him _at one point. Honest to Hell _grounded_ him, _him!_ The fucking _Devil! _Sometimes he wondered if she wasn't actually mentally deranged. No sane, intelligent, self-preserving individual would be so at ease angering the King of Hell. Then again, she wasn't any ordinary human, or girl for that matter.

Which was one of the reasons she'd managed to coerce him onto the floor in front of the couch once again, fingers in his hair as she wove small braids, barrettes, and who-the-fuck-even-cares into the dark locks, her eyes bouncing up every few moments to the television placed in front of them. Some copy-written, carbon copy horror thriller was playing, the stereotypical group of friends on a trip into the middle of nowhere to enjoy a vacation and the trip inexplicably turning to shit. Too easy to predict and boring to the point of tears. He debated breaking the things he could reach, maybe see how long it'd take for the brat to notice. He eyed the remote by her leg questioningly. A sharp tug on a corner of his temple snapped his attention away from the ill-fated remote though, and he glared over his shoulder.

"Hey, watch it! Not that something like that little tug could even hurt me, but it's annoying if you lack even the basic concentration skills to not continuously rip my hair out while you're indulging yourself and your idiotic little games Girl." he spat, lip curling over his blunt, human teeth. He hated having to sit around as "Kid Stan", he really, truly did. But her dad was unpredictable in the way he always popped around corners out of nowhere, and it was better to not have a 6'2" demon with horns and tattoos sitting on the living room floor at his daughter's bidding. Might send the old geezer straight to the ER. Or the Morgue. And as funny as it was to imagine, it wouldn't be worth the repercussions.

"Sorry, don't be a baby about it." she hummed back happily, perfectly unaware, or maybe just uncaring, of his soured mood.

"Why the hell am I even sitting here? This is fucking stupid." He growled, turning back to the tv and crossing his arms. He slouched back into the couch, her knees knocking against his shoulders as he did.

"Because you just look so 'purty'~!"

"I will rip your favorite sweater to shreds when you go to sleep."

"No you won't, I forbid it!"

"Fucking shit."

His scowl deepened as he pouted, indignant and annoyed. She just grabbed another plastic barrette and pinned his bangs to the side of his face.

"Why do you enjoy torturing me like this, I haven't even misbehaved lately! I've been good, I don't deserve this for once."

"Oh will you stop complaining already, it's not that bad. It's fun!"

"For you maybe, but I can guarantee what I am experiencing is far from any semblance of enjoyable."

"Wait, what; do you not like having your hair played with?"

"No, why would I?" He turned his head again, angling it to glare at her again, though his gaze held less heat than confusion. Her own eyebrows knitted together, her fingers stopping in their quest of his skull, settling on top instead.

"That's weird, everyone I know likes having their hair played with."

"Well that's weird to me. Do you like it too or something?"

"Yeah! It's really soothing, and it feels nice. I love when people play with my hair, but no one really does it anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because it was usually my mom that did it."

At that his eyes widened, his frown and angry expression slipping off his face at the mention of her mom. It always threw him whenever she brought up little things about her mom. She never really talked about her mother unless it had to do with the situation at hand. He sat quiet for a moment, the annoyance from earlier melting away.

"Well I don't see why it would be such a big deal. It's just hair, it's not something anyone I've known has ever really cared about before." He said, voice gentler than his growled sentences before.

"I guess you have a point, it does seem like a weird thing to do when you put it that way. But a lot of people enjoy it. I guess for some they even consider it intimate."

"Gross." His face twisted in a grimace, and she laughed. He could feel her hands move over and through his hair again, but now he could feel locks of hair falling loose as the snap of hair barrettes being taken out filled the air. After only a moment they were all gone and her fingers combed through his hair one last time, freeing the tiny braids and combing it all back into semi-order.

"What, you aren't going to keep messing with my hair?" he asked, the confusion actually leaking into his words this time.

"No, not if you hate it. I just liked it, I won't do it anymore." True to her word, her hands left his head and settled in her lap as she leaned back into the sofa, returning her attention to the movie once more. It left him disoriented. Not only because it'd been that easy to get her to stop something, but because it felt… weird, making her stop now? Which he didn't enjoy feeling. At all. He turned around once more, trying to ignore the feeling and focus on the blonde chick that was currently trapped in some sort of closet, screaming and sobbing as the killer's ax beat against the door. But not even watching her get hacked to pieces could hold his attention.

He glanced over his shoulder at Nat, watching her instead. She was toying with her own fingers, but she was watching the movie, same insufferably cheery grin on her lips as usual. His eyelids drooped a fraction as he watched her restless fingers, thought about how he made her stop. The whole situation was dumb. It was just hair, he stood solidly by that fact. It didn't feel good, at least not to him, and he didn't understand how it was supposed to. But he questioned validity of his decision none the less and it ticked him off. His eyes darted past her fingers, up her arms to where her own hair cascaded over her shoulders. She had let it out of it's bun earlier, so it was curled at the ends, rings of strawberry-blonde looping around her neck gently. He started at it for a bit, thinking how she'd said her mom had done it to her as a kid. That's why she'd enjoyed it.

Without really stopping to think about his actions, he raised a hand and reached back, taking a lock of hair between his fingers. She jumped a bit, her eyes darting down to him in confusion and surprise, but he diligently avoided her gaze. He toyed with the strands, looping them around his finger and gently pulling his hand away so they unraveled and fell limply back into place, before taking it again.

"What the heck are you doing? You were saying I was being weird, you want to talk about weird you can look at yourself." She joked, but he could see the unease in her eyes, apprehensive at the way he was acting. He almost allowed himself to smirk. Apprehension was usually the closest he ever came to scaring her, and it wasn't often.

"Trade me spots Kid." He said simply, avoiding her question and gaze.

"What? Why?" She said, confusion taking over her face. Letting go of her hair, he pushed himself to his feet, stepping aside.

"I'm going to braid your hair, sit on the floor. Don't argue just do it." He gestured to said spot, specifically avoiding her eyes. If he didn't he didn't think he'd be able to go through with it. He was already fighting the urge to flush at his behavior. What the fuck was he thinking why did he think this was a good idea? As he waited for her to give an argument, he was surprised to see her face merely scrunch up, before she scooted forward, easing down into the spot he'd been sitting a mere moment before. Blinking, he swung a leg around her and settled onto the couch behind her. Without having to meet her eyes, he felt calmer, less out of his element, and he let his fingers wrap around tendrils of her hair, combing through from root to tip and gently undoing the few tangles she'd gotten.

"Don't even think about pulling strands of my hair out. Or cutting it. Or anything that would be damaging to my hair." her words pulled his attention back, and he blinked in surprise. He hadn't even thought of doing that to her. Why the fuck hadn't he? Even if he had absolutely no intention of doing so, the opportunity to imagine it never went neglected. Merely grunting in acknowledgement, he set his attention back to her hair, splitting it up and braiding it slowly. The way her shoulders went slack and her head tipped back the slightest bit did not go unnoticed, and he watched as she relaxed into the little niche his legs and the couch made. He worked slowly, lacing each piece carefully over the other and back again until the braid was done.

Hesitating, his eyes flickered over Nat before his fingers retraced the pleats, undoing them all and combing them back out. Nat's head inclined back as she felt him undo the braid, looking back at him.

"What are you doing?"

"It wasn't even, I'm redoing it. Hold still Kid." he lied smoothly, fingers scraping gently over her skull. She turned back to the movie, leaning back into him with a soft hum. His hands retraced the motions, combing and rebraiding her hair, watching as she sighed in content when he messed with certain areas. When it was rebraided again, just as perfect as the first one had been, he again untied it, repeating the steps over and over again. When she questioned him again he retaliated by throwing out some lame half-assed excuse that it had to look right if it was being done by the Devil himself. She just smiled, and he knew she understood and saw through him to the real reason. He was relieved that she made no comment, and secretly, even more pleased that she let him continue. She didn't say anything else after that, instead letting her eyes droop shut and inclining her head back to give him room.

After a while he stopped braiding it at all, just combing his fingers through her hair and twisting pieces here and there. He twisted his power around his fingertips, sharpening the tips of his fingernails just enough that he could gently scratch them over her skull, and the purr of appreciation she gave was definitely something he enjoyed. The movie was long since over and a new one was on behind it, but neither paid it any mind. Natalie's head drooped to the side, landing on his leg as he scratched over the back of her head. He glanced down, seeing a small smile on her lips as he tucked some hair behind her ear, unable to look away. She could have very well been asleep for how calm she was and how soft her face looked. If he didn't know better he'd have thought she looked pretty like this, relaxed and happy.

Gradually his hands slowed to a soft brushing, nearly petting her hair with the care he took. His fingers looped behind her head, wrapping around the back of her neck, gently kneading into the muscles there as his other hand caressed the back of a finger down her cheek. When she didn't react, he did it again, and then again, watching her face for any flinch or reaction. There was none; she was fast asleep. Aside from a light fluttering of her eyelashes, she seemed content to stay as such. Smirking a bit that she'd fallen out on him, his thumb rubbed soothingly over her cheek as his fingers framed her jaw, his other hand still massaging her neck, watching her slumber.

He could very easily exploit the opportunity given to him. There were so many ways he could mess with her, ways he could take advantage of no supervision, ways he could reek havoc long since overdue. But he felt no desire to do so. It almost startled him, how satisfied he was with merely staying there with her sleeping against him. He could easily pick a hundred different points in the last few months that he would have thrown her off. He would not want her anywhere near him, especially sleeping _on_ him. But now, the prospect of moving and waking her up was something he did not want to happen.

What the fuck was this girl doing to him? He couldn't understand.

Sighing, he traced her lower lip with his claw tipped nail, eyes transfixed on her lips. When had he started leaning down? He didn't know. But he moved slowly, being sure to not jostle her awake as he tilted his head down. He could feel his horns poking out of his forehead, rising up over the crown of his head as he angled her chin upward, his eyes falling closed just as he pressed his lips to hers-

"NATALIE! STAN! Are you kids awake? It's after 3 am, you two should be getting to bed!" Shooting straight up again, Satan barely avoided cracking skulls with Natalie as she woke up, her dad coming around the corner just as Satan managed to pull his horns and claws back in, his hand flying to his chest and gripping his shirt tight. If he were capable of having a heart attack, he had a feeling he'd be experiencing one now.

"Dad what the hell!" She shouted, eyes still unclear from being woken so suddenly. Her dad merely blinked, confusedly glancing between the two teens.

"What? What did I do?"

"You scared the Devil out of me, for one!" Satan griped, managing to dig a joke in even in his disheveled state. Natalie's unamused glance at him was worth it. His hand still gripped at his heart. Laughing, Mr. McAllister merely waved a hand at them, apologizing before telling them again that it was late and they should get to bed. Agreeing just for the sake of getting him to leave, they gathered their things and turned off the tv, escaping to Natalie's room and locking the door. Stretching her arms above her head, Nat grinned as Satan switched back to his actual form, stretching his arms as well.

"Man, I can't believe I fell asleep! I'm not stiff though, that's surprising." Raising her hand to her neck, she rolled her head and felt for any sore muscles in her neck, but found none. Shrugging, she walked to the bed and sat down, glancing back over to Satan. He wouldn't meet her gaze. Confused, she tilted her head at him, questioning what was wrong. He gave excuses, claiming that nothing was wrong, but she could tell he was lying. He wouldn't answer her though, and there was nothing she could do about it. Regardless, she turned out the lights and burrowed under the covers, bidding him goodnight. He returned the sentiment in his usual clipped way, sitting down against the wall and crossing his arms.

"Thanks for that by the way. I appreciated it a lot. I haven't had anyone take care of me and look over me like that in a long time, it was fun. We need to do that again, a lot more often too!" she mumbled tiredly, before turning over and going back to sleep.

Satan squashed down the excited content feeling the prospect brought, as well as the nasty twist of guilt and disgust deep in his gut. He'd tried to kiss her. He nearly had but her father had unwittingly both ruined and saved him from that fate. What in the hell had made him do it? She was human, she was a _kid,_ she was annoying and aggravating and idiotic and so air-headed sometimes he thought she'd end up floating away. There was nothing to like about her, there shouldn't be anyway. He wasn't supposed to like her, he wasn't even supposed to care about her. _Fuck,_ he wasn't even supposed to _be_ here to _begin_ _with! _This was all a fluke, a misunderstanding that she refused to rectify by releasing him. He was supposed to despise her, just like every other human on the planet, just like every other soul he payed not even a single glance at. So why was he feeling sick at just the idea of hating her? Why could he feel himself lying about all of it to _himself? Why was he still watching her sleep even now!?_

…What was this girl doing to him? He couldn't understand…


	2. Rainy Nights

I said I had a sequel in mind…. I wonder if I could write a third chapter?

She was driving him batshit up the fucking _belfry. _He had sworn that having to indulge her random whims was the hardest part of being stuck with her, but this was a new-found Hell, and he didn't take his own namesake in vain. For nearly 4 days now, she'd been on his case left and right, asking him about his attitude and mood, treating him like she needed to take care of him or some shit, and it was really starting to get on his last nerve. Every time she brought up his sour mood or how he was "more testy than usual" he would snap at her that she needed to mind her own business, and it pissed him off to no end that she wouldn't get the fucking hint and just_ knock it off already._

And the worst part is that she was right. He _knew_ she was right, he'd been much more short tempered than usual, and it made him all the more furious that it showed so obviously. The only thing he had to hold onto was the fact that she didn't know why he was so irritable, but that was quickly dwindling as she kept coming up with new ways to ask what his problem was. The problem itself being that he couldn't get away from her anymore, and not in the physical sense like before. She was constantly on his mind now, and he couldn't get it to stop. He kept catching himself thinking about her over and over again, little things here and there that he didn't notice until they built up more and more. The way she smiled, the way she almost danced on her feet when she got excited about something, her aggravatingly, _annoyingly_ endearing laugh, the way her eyes lit up, and they were such a deep shade of green, he had trouble not looking into them when he talked to her anymore. She invaded his mind even when she wasn't around, and he'd had to force a smile off his face more times that he wanted to admit. It'd been like this ever since he'd tried to kiss her the other night, and it was eating away at his dubious grip on sanity. Or had it always been like this and it'd only gotten worse? He growled and scratched at his head, a headache pounding through his skull.

"What are you being all crotchety over this time?" And enter the root of his torment. The cause of his distress. The very bane of his existence. Of fucking _course. _Turning to face her as she walked into her room, he watched her carry a basket of laundry in and drop it by her dresser. When she looked over at him splayed across her bed, he fixed her with a purposefully bored expression, eyes cold and refusing to wander over her outfit or the way she'd tied her hair up today.

"Don't call me crotchety, it makes me sound old."

"But you are old, aren't you?"

"Not enough to put up with your shit."

"Rude." She hummed, dropping down to the floor and crossing her legs as she pulled the clothes out of the basket, folding them as she talked.

"That's kind of my entire thing you know, if you haven't figured it out yet." Ugh, his head was really starting to pound. How annoying.

"You say that all the time, get some new material dude." Grab, fold, hum… "But you've been more rude than usual, and that's saying something." And there it was.

"Don't even try it kid, you aren't getting shit out of me."

"Oh come on! Something's got you all twisted and I just want to know what it is!"

"Well you aren't going to find out so just give up already." She threw the shirt she was holding and stood up, her hands balled at her sides in one of her little temper tantrums that he found way too endearing.

"ARGH! That's not fair! Why can't you just fess up for once instead of trying to be mister macho and act like it's normal to be so mad?" She was getting loud, and he could feel the throbbing in his head move to his temples. Groaning, he sat up straighter on her bed, scrunching his eyes shut for a moment.

"Lower your voice kid, you're dad's going to hear you."

"He's not home today, he got called into work for the day. He'll be back around midnight tonight." Figures… At least that meant he didn't have to worry about wandering in his usual form. That was one upside to the day.

"But I don't care anyway, even dad has noticed you've been bad tempered whenever he thinks you're ''visiting"! He's brought it up at least twice in the last few days!" And there it went again…. He glared over at her under his eyelids.

"Do you think I care? He can believe what he wants, it's none of his business either."

"Well you should care! We're worried about you! What kind of person just gets angry out of nowhere and doesn't say anything about it and just let's it fester like that? All we want is to-"

"To what, kid? To help me? To cheer me up? You don't seem to fully understand the fact that I don't want you getting into my business. You have no right to even ask this shit of me." He was starting to raise his voice now too, it was making his head throb worse…

"Why the hell not? I don't see why I can't, I'm just trying-"

"Trying to piss me off even more is what you're doing." His hand grasped at his head as he stood up, towering over her as he glared.

"Well if you'd just tell me why you're so upset, I'd stop! I thought we were friends, why can't you-"

"_Friends? _Kid your logic is so fucking twisted I don't know which direction is up with aren't friends." His head hurt so bad, he barely registered the shock on her face. He didn't care, he wasn't focused on what he was saying. Why couldn't she just knock it _off?_

"But I-"

"You don't understand do you? I'm not your friend, I'm not here because I want to be or because I like it. I'm stuck here because of a fuck-up and you refuse to let me go. I'm not your buddy, I'm not your pal, I don't want to be here, and I sure as fuck don't _like_ you."

Oh dad, what was he saying?

"You need to get it through that thick skull of yours that you don't matter to me."

Shut up.

"It doesn't matter why I'm pissed because it has _nothing_ to do with you."

Shut up. You're lying through your fucking _teeth_, _shut up…!_

"All you are doing is making my life harder than it needs to be, and pissing me off more and more as time goes on."

You're yelling at her, stop._ For fuck's sake, stop!_

"You are just another human brat that has absolutely no affect on my life or the job I do. You are just going to die and go to hell and I'll finally be done with you."

Shut up, shut up_,_ _shut up_**,****_ shut up, SHUT THE FUCK UP!_**

_"_You are completely insignificant, so will you just get a fucking grip already and_ leave me alone!?" _

His head felt like it was being crushed in as his chest heaved, panting for breath. The air felt hot, and he vaguely registered that he was breathing out steam, his fangs out and his horns flaming red. It didn't matter. It didn't matter because his head was all that encompassed his thoughts. He didn't even care about what he'd said, he didn't care about anything through his rage. So the sound of muffled hiccups felt like being dipped in ice, forcefully shocking him back to the girl he was standing chest to chest with, towering over.

The girl in front of him that was shaking with sobs, her head bowed and her bangs over her eyes. He could see her tears falling down her face and hitting the carpet and their feet.

_Shit._

"…..I never really thought about all of that…. I guess it was pretty stupid of me to think otherwise…. " She whispered, and he just stood silent. The silence between them was thick, and he didn't try to stop her as she turned and walked out of her room, not a single word passing between them. Sighing at the welcomed silence, he walked back to her bed, dropping down and laying back on the blankets as he knotted his arms over his eyes to block out the light and pain. The distant sound of the front door opening and closing signaled that she'd run off, and forcing himself up, he went in search of some pain killers and to take advantage of the now rarely empty house.

He didn't pay attention to how long she'd been gone. After a while his headache gratefully left and he found a book, sprawling over the living room couch and reading, finally getting a small repose to having her on his mind. Evening came and went, and dusk followed, rain gently starting to fall as the sun dipped down. And still he didn't notice. He didn't notice when it was pitch black outside and the rain had turned into a downpour.

He did, however, hear the first claps of thunder. Starting from his book, he glanced up at the window, watching the rain hit the glass. Shrugging, he turned the page, turning back to the novel in his hands. The lightning and ensuing thunder stopped him. He glared at the storm, willing his eyes to burn the water away and leave him be. He finally had some peace and quiet, he'd be damned all over again if it was ruined. But the rain only seemed to fall harder, the thunder rolling and growing louder as he tried harder to ignore it. He really hated the rain.

So does she….

Shaking his head he growled. He'd finally managed to get her out of his head for a few hours! Why this? Sitting up, he slipped a finger into the pages to keep his place as he closed it. She wasn't back. It'd been hours and she wasn't back yet. Like he cared, she was probably at a friend's house. Probably that stupid, brother-face-stealer punk friend of hers. The thought pissed him off more than it should have….

The sound of the storm made him hesitate at just forgetting about her though. What if she wasn't at his house? What if she was stuck out in the rain? Yeah right, even she wasn't dumb enough to stay our in a thunderstorm, especially when they scared the shit out of her…

He was up and over to the phone before he could stop himself, dialing up the boy's number. Swallowing his bile, he waited for the phone to ring. An altogether too peppy voice answered on the second ring.

"Hello~! Hey Nat, what's up?" He slammed the receiver back down without a word. So she wasn't at Michael's after all. Pacing back and forth through the kitchen, he mulled over where she could be. The thunder overhead was all too loud now, and it made his stomach role. Should he go out looking for her? Probably not, he'd upset her pretty bad, she probably wanted nothing to do with him. But then again, what if she was out in this? She couldn't be alone, he'd seen how scared she was when it got bad. She put on a hell of a brave face, but she needed distractions from the storm, something that he'd made a habit of supplying recently. She would be scared out there alone….

The angry storm outside made the decision for him. Lightning lit up the entire room, and he was out the door and down the road before the deafening thunder had even cleared. He quickly changed to his older "Stan" form, running down the sidewalk as the rain drenched his clothes. It was cold. He ran up and down the streets yelling for her, stopping by the ice cream shop, the baseball field, outside the cafe where Gabe "worked" (like Hell he was going inside). She wasn't anywhere. He didn't think he stopped running once while looking for her. He made his way up and down roads and streets, any and all places she'd dragged him in the past, before winding up at the park. He made it to the bathroom buildings on the far side and stopped, doubling over gasping, out of breath.

He was drenched head to tow and his hair hung in his face, his clothes nearly dragging him down, but he wasn't about to stop. Not until he found her. He was about to run passed the building when the thunder crashed again, and a small scream caught his ear, snapping his head to the side. Heart in his throat he paced around the side and found the alcove where the stone cut into the doors. And Natalie was curled up in a tight ball against the wall, trembling and hiding her face in her arms. She was soaked, but no where near as wet as himself. He felt even colder than the rain in that moment. She was scared and cold and alone and hurt, all because of him. He hadn't fucked up like this in a long time. Sighing, he walked over, kneeling down quietly next to her.

"Kid? Hey, are you okay?" Of course she wasn't, but what was he supposed to say?

"…Wh-at are you doing here..?" Her voice shook and the sound stabbed him through the chest.

"I've been looking everywhere for you, what are you doing out in the rain like this? It's cold out, you should have gone home."

"Why? Just so I have to sit around and know I've been an idiot and making a fool out of myself?" She bit out, and he wasn't sure to be hurt or proud of the anger in her voice.

"I know, I was an asshole, believe me I'm well aware of that. I didn't mean that though kid…. I don't know why I said any of it."

"Because it's the truth."

"No it's not." He said too quickly, his voice harsher than he meant. It made her glance up at him the smallest amount.

"I said it because I knew it would hurt you, and I don't know why I wanted it to. Probably because that's what I always resort to, but whatever." He grit his teeth on his next words and looked down at the ground, elbows on knees as he balanced next to her.

"I'm sorry okay? I am. I don't apologize often so don't fucking get used to this, but I swear I regret every word I said to you. I regret yelling, and you can make damn sure I regret making you cry like that." He forced down the reflexive gagging saying it out loud brought, but he said it none the less and what's more he meant it. Glancing back at her he was nearly startled to see her looking up at him, those green eyes he kept falling into seeing straight through him.

"….You really are a _marshmallow_, oh my god." An indignant flush burned his face as his balance faltered, nearly toppling him to the wet concrete.

"Are you kidding me, that's all you have to fucking say!? Jesus christ you are so damn annoying!" Her laugh split his ears, and he should have hated how the sound made him feel lighter.

"Nice try big guy, I know you don't mean that~" Oh, he was going to hate life even more. He growled, but it held no heat, and they both knew it.

"Can we just go now? I've been out here forever looking for you, I want to get dry-" Before he could finish the storm he'd forgotten about reared it's head, washing away his words in a loud bang. Natalie shrieked, launching herself at him and finally knocking him over onto the ground, arms like iron around his neck. He grabbed her and was about to shove her off when he felt her shaking. Sighing, and knowing he'd regret it later, he sat up. Quickly looping his arms around her her stood up, taking her with him, cradled tight against his chest. With his precious bundle of cargo tucked safe against himself, he started the long trek back home in the cold wind and rain.

"Didn't you bring an umbrella or something? You're totally soaked." She tried to whine, but her voice was too soft to carry any annoyance at the fact that the water from his clothes was seeping into her own.

"Girl, you are lucky I managed to shut your front door. I don't think my feet touched the steps with how fast I ran out of your house." He laughed, feeling their usual routine kicking in.

"Aww, you were that worried about me? You're such a sweetheart."

"Shut it, Michael would just kill me if something happened to you, that's all."

"Yeah right, like you care what Michael has to say about anything. You were just missing me and wanted me back, I can tell."

He groaned loudly, unable to fully keep the grin off his lips. They bickered back and forth the whole way home, her arms still wrapped tight around his neck and her head a comfortable weight on his shoulder.

Opening the door proved to be a task as she refused to be put down, but he managed to do it and kicked it closed behind them, taking her back upstairs to her room and unceremoniously throwing her onto the bed with a satisfied grin as she shouted about getting her bed wet. Changing back and snapping his fingers, he was dry again, no sign left that he'd been out in the rain for over an hour. Natalie took longer to clean up, opting to take a warm shower to chase away the chill before changing out her wet blankets and switching the light off before curling into bed. Satan found his book from earlier and sat down against the side of her bed, leaning back comfortably.

"Thank you for coming to get me."

"Forget about it girl."

"And I forgive you for being a prick."

"Good, then don't bring it up again."

"But you still need to make it up to me." The utter smugness in her voice made him whip around, staring at her incredulously.

"I need to _what_ now?"

"Make it up to me! You made me cry and hurt my feelings, so you need to do something nice for me."

"Like what?" He was almost afraid to ask.

"Play with my hair again? Until I fall sleep?"

"Are you serious?" She just blinked at him, curled up tight in her blankets. Evidently so. At least it was something he could do, and enjoyed as well. But she didn't need to know that. Forcing himself to look as annoyed as possible he turned, opening his book and setting it on the bed next to her to read as he reached a hand out, fingers sinking into her still-wet hair. He picked up an easy rhythm of scratching her skull and combing his fingers through the strands, slowly soothing her to sleep. She relaxed almost immediately, and he did too despite himself, and they enjoyed the quiet patter of the rain hitting the window, the physical and metaphorical storms finally over. It was peaceful, enjoyable even. She didn't say anything, and it almost seemed she was asleep; not that he was going to stop stroking her hair even if she was.

"So are you going to tell me why you were so pissy before? You seem a heck of a lot happier now." her voice suddenly cut through the dark.

_"GIRL!"_ he roared, and her laughter drowned out his rage.

He just couldn't _stand_ her. And he knew he was still lying to himself.


	3. Cursed Nights

"Girl." She was ignoring him.

"Girl." She refused to even look at him, her eyes fixed forward unmovingly.

_"Girl." _It was aggravating as all hell. And he had a headache again.

"Dammit Kid, for fuck's sak-"

"I said before, no cussing in church, now shhh!" She hissed, smile never faltering.

"Oh come on, I think I'm dying over here…."

"No you aren't, now shush, the pastor is still talking." She was completely heartless…. He groaned, sinking down into his seat further as he tried to shut out the sounds of the prayers from the pastor. He was utterly miserable.

"I don't care, this is terrible. This is cruel and unusual punishment you know, believe me, I know it when I see it."

"Good, maybe then you'll rethink your actions next time before you do them."

"And what actions would those be? I need a little context if I'm going to sneak around going to church on Sundays." He quipped, lolling his head to the side to glance at her. She still didn't look at him, watching the service.

"We've had 3 new mailmen in the past two weeks, and they refuse to come back. The second guy quit his job completely because of you." Satan snickered, raising a hand to stifle the sound, pride faintly overriding the sickness. He was surprised the guy hadn't fled the country, he'd done a hell of a job with that one. Kristi would have had a heart attack.

"If you keep scaring them off every time they try to deliver our mail, people will get suspicious. And we'll never get our mail either. You need to learn your lesson about terrifying innocent people doing their jobs."

"But it's funny." He answered honestly, grinning up at her. "You should have seen how that one guy ran, even you would have pissed yourself laughing." She finally glanced at him, giving him an unamused, doubtful look before returning her attention up front.

"No more scaring our mailmen." She said firmly, and he noticed it as an order. Pouting despite himself, he crossed his arms and closed his eyes against the lights. They both stayed silent after that, each doing their best to ignore or pay attention to the sermons, respectively. Satan occasionally sighed or scoffed at the details of some of the passages being read but Natalie quietly silenced him each time. The Pastor's words filled the air.

"And now, if you would all join me in song." Satan's head shot straight up, eyes wide in fear. Everyone around them stood up, finding a nearby book to sing along to, Natalie joining them. He quickly grabbed her arm, yanking her back down and whispering frantically in her ear.

"No no nonono, Kid come on, don't do this to me, I can't sit through this again..! I nearly threw up last time! I'm sorry okay? Please, I'm begging you here, let us leave!"

"No, you'll never learn your lesson if you don't sit through a little punishment." She said confidently, shaking his tight grip and standing back up again.

"Little-!? I don't think you realize just how much I can't do this…!" His eyes darted back and forth, seeing everyone in the building standing around them. There was a significant more number of people here this time, and he didn't like it. He couldn't even lay down like he could before, there were other people in their pew. Natalie's hand grabbing his arm caught his attention once more.

"Come on, you have to actually stand up this time, even if you don't sing. It's disrespectful."

_"Disrespectful?_ You're telling _me_ about being disrespectful in _church?_ I think you've forgotten who I am Girl, I'm the one that rebelled against this shit to begin with." She hauled him to his feet and he swayed a bit, grasping the seat in front of them to steady himself. She grabbed a book and opened it to the right page, the music starting up as his headache simultaneously pounded in his head.

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me~"

He did his best to block out the nausea as the uneven chorus filled the small room, both hands white-knuckled and gripping the pew to the point of nearly splintering the wood. His claws emerged and scraped at the varnishing, digging in to create deep holes and scratching the paint off in vandalizing hopes of distraction. He was starting to break out in a sweat again. As the song ended and everyone turned pages to begin another, he felt Natalie grabbing his shoulder again, pulling him backwards with a hissed whisper as she glanced at the people around them.

"Hey, knock it off, people are going to see you!"

"Well what the fuck do you want me to do? I'm going to fall over if this continues too much longer, I can't just stand here and endure this shit."

"Lean on me if you have to then, you wimp. But stop trying to destroy the church."

"Yeah, how about no? There's no way I'd resort to that, I'll just stick to not throwing up on the people in front of us." He shrugged her off roughly, bracing his feet on the floor as he sought another means of blocking out the noise. Natalie rolled her eyes and flipped the pages to the current song, picking up smoothly with everyone else. She was a hell of a lot better than the people around them.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, head reeling in pain as she sang sweetly. She really was decent. Not the voice of an angel, there was no way he'd use that metaphor, but he didn't mind listening to her either. His ears tuned to her voice, focusing on hers only to block out the rest. He liked it, but he wished she'd sing something else. Anything else. Maybe he could convince her to sing something a little less holy and a little more on his side some time. Probably not. He had more important issues at hand anyway, like the fact that the room was starting to spin. _Shit._

Grabbing to his side, he rapped a hand around her arm, grip tight as he panted under his breath. Her singing didn't falter but he felt her eyes on him, and glanced up to see her watching him out of the corner of her eye, an eyebrow arched. Leave it to her to not give a shit about his misery…

Swallowing his bile and disgust, he stood up again and wrapped his arm around her waist, fingers knotting into her dress to ground himself. He leaned his head into her shoulder as his other hand circled her arm once more, his eyes scrunched shut. Natalie faltered in her singing, glancing around to make sure no one noticed or paid them any mind as she leaned into him more, giving him an easy perch to rest on.

"It's almost over, you can stand a few more minutes can't you? We'll have a final sermon then we can get out of here." She whispered to him, watching as he breathed raggedly, sweat dripping off his face. He looked pretty green again.

"Thank Hell, I feel like I'm going to be sick."

"Well puke the other way dude, I like this dress."

"Noted, I'll aim for you then. Just go back to singing already, I need something to focus on and pay attention to to block this cacophony out." He mumbled, not even caring what he'd let slip as he turned his head and buried his forehead into her shoulder. She started, not entirely sure she'd heard him correctly or not. Shrugging it off as her imagination, she picked up with the choir once more, focusing on the way he swayed and making up for the loss of balance.

Finally after what felt like an eternity to him, (and he knew what an eternity felt like), the room finished the song and returned the books to their slots, Natalie handing hers over to a neighbor to be put away. She helped him back into their seat, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and idly playing with a lock of hair as he shifted his arms to fit more comfortably around her. He didn't have it in him to swat her hand away, and it worked as a fair distraction anyway. Without the delirious cloud hanging over him now he could open his eyes again, and he did so lazily, glancing up and watching her as she listened to the speeches.

He picked up on little things to distract himself, the way she'd curled her hair for the day and how she'd done her make up and the cute little dress she'd picked to wear and how good it looked on her; the warmth in her eyes and the soft way her fingers toyed with his scalp, the small smile on her lips that had caught his attention weeks ago and had nearly killed him. She was even wearing perfume, and it was an addictive scent, just barely there but now that he was leaning against her shoulder he could smell it on her wrist and throat. Vanilla? Yum.

….._.EW._ What the fuck, okay new distraction, find a new distraction_ now._

His eyes darted around frantically and landed on the large cross centered on the stage behind the priest, and he felt a chill down his spine. How had it all come to this? Despite himself, despite everything that had happened to him and all that he'd done, he couldn't stop himself from missing the past. He missed Heaven and Michael and even his Father. He didn't regret any of the choices he'd made until this point, and he sure as shit didn't regret falling, but he did miss it. It hurt, remembering the past now. And he didn't like it. But then again, he was stuck here with the kid now, and as much as he hated it at times, he enjoyed it too. He enjoyed how easy it was to spend time with her and ignore the fact that he wasn't supposed to be here. It was at the point that he didn't know if he wanted the contract broken or not. He didn't want it broken because of Michael, but did he want it broken at all? He couldn't tell anymore.

He just knew he didn't want to be without her now. His eyes watched the cross, his fingers toying with the seam of her dress as she danced across his thoughts. He couldn't even fight her out of his mind. There was just something about her that was an addiction, and he couldn't seem to get enough anymore. He was really tripping over himself for her and he couldn't stop the fall. He was going to land flat on his face soon.

He glared daggers at the cross, feeling the urge to light it up and watch it burn, but crushed the feeling down at the last moment. She'd kill him for it, and he didn't want her to be upset with him further. Suddenly he blinked, and an angry, indignantly embarrassed flush overtook his face as he hunched down into her shoulder more, hiding his shame. He was actually worried about what she'd think of him, she was making a damn fool out of him now. _'God help me, what am I going to do…?' _

He stayed silent throughout the rest of the service, pretending to doze off to piss off the older woman that was eyeing them a few seats down. As the preacher finished off the final words and dismissed the crowd, he let Natalie help him up and out of the pew and stood with her to let everyone file out first. He sneered at the old lady as she passed, the haughty look on her face ticking him off, and they followed the last of the crowd out.

"Are you still feeling sick?" She asked, an arm wrapped comfortingly around his shoulders, and he tried to ignore the warmth he felt.

"Well I'm not going to be sick, but I am dizzy as fuck." He grumbled, carefully making sure his steps didn't stumble as they rounded the corner of the building and stopped. Natalie let go of him and took his jacket out of his hand. He opted to lean against the wall, one hand plastered to it to center himself.

"Well I hope you'll think about that next time you terrorize people that come to our house." She sang, folding the jacket into a square and sitting down on the concrete.

"What are you doing?" He questioned as she pat the ground next to her, putting the jacket in her lap.

"Come on, lie down. We can't walk home with you all sickly and ready to fall over. Laying down for a minute in the fresh air will do you some good."

He didn't even have the energy to fight her, instead groaning loudly and slumping down onto the hard ground. She took his shoulders and maneuvered him so that his head was laid in her lap, the jacket acting as a pillow, one hand falling to his chest and toying with his collar as the other combed through his hair. He was never going to get her to shake that habit it seemed. Damn. He was getting too used to it. Regardless of his wishes though his eyes slipped shut and he sighed in content, relaxing against her as his fingers massaged at his temples.

They sat alone until the cars had long since left and no one else was around, comfortable in the silence. Finally his headache was gone, and the dizziness with it, and he slouched in her lap with a pleased sigh.

"Feeling better now?"

"Yes."

"Are you sorry for terrifying our mailmen?"

"Yes."

"Are you lying?"

"Partly."

"Are you going to do it again?"

"No, you ordered me not to."

"Good."

"Fuck you." he grumbled, eyebrows knitting together.

"Mmmm, no thanks, I think I'll pass~" She giggled, and he sputtered in her lap, ears going red at the implications, and even more at the way his imagination took so keenly to the thought.

"You are so fucking _SICK!_ I can't even-!"

"Oh my god, you are so _red_! You should see your face right now hahaha!" She cackled, poking his burning cheeks in delight as he stuttered.

"I am so done with you!" He scrambled to his feet, pulling his shirt down angrily and marching away from her, ignoring the way she laughed behind him.

"Hey wait for me!" She grabbed his jacket and got up, running after him while still giggling.

"Awww, did I embarrass the itty bitty demon~?"

He growled, glaring at her as his fangs and horns started to pop out, his face still burning up. She gasped in glee, eyes twinkling.

"I _did, _didn't I? Oh, do I get a prize? Bonus points maybe? Did I level up again?"

"You are _SICK._ You are completely, heartlessly revolting!" He shouted, only making her laugh again.

"You are the farthest thing from intimidating when you are smaller than me dude, and I know you don't mean it, you just complain about all the things you actually like~" He screeched, marching ahead of her again, hands shoved deep into his pockets before an idea hit him. Whirling around again, he raised his hands up and pinched each of his arms, _hard_. She squawked, jumping a bit as her hands went reflexively to the nonexistent wounds.

"Ow hey, stop that! That hurts!"

"Exactly."

Pinch.

"Ow stop!"

Pinch.

"STOP, SHIT!"

_Piiiiiiiinch._

_"STOP, OKAY, I'M SORRY YOU BIG BABY, HAPPY NOW!?"_

"Mmmm, no, not really." He grinned gleefully, pinching a line down an arm from shoulder to wrist. She squealed, darting forward and grabbing his hands, yanking them to the side.

"Knock it off, jeez! I'm going to get bruises because of you!"

"No you won't, we haven't been linked long enough."

"It still hurts!"

"Yes, that's the point Girl."

"You are terrible!"

"I know, thanks for the confirmation." He grinned mockingly, lacing fingers with her and squeezing tight, palms pressed flat together. She looked ready to shout but cut herself off, a cunning grin coming to her own face, making his own falter.

"If you wanted to hold my hand that bad why didn't you just say it? The entire drama bomb was pointless, you are the absolute worst at expressing yourself you know." She tightened her own as he tried to wrench his free, her smile widening.

"That is so cute, who knew you were the touchy-feely type?"

"Let go!"

"Why? I thought you wanted to hold hands?"

"Fuck no, get off!"

She shrugged, letting go of one of his hands, keeping the other tightly locked with his. She pulled him forward as he tried futilely to tug his hand back, humming happily to herself. He cussed and complained and groaned incessantly, but she steadfastly ignored him, and soon enough he'd run out of steam to fight back. He walked quietly next to her, pushing away the hot feeling in his cheeks as he felt how small and warm her hand was in his, even in this form. He liked the feel of it.

He watched her carefully as he slowly flexed his fingers, twitching them a bit in her grip, but she didn't seem to take notice. Experimentally he tightened them a bit, curling them around the back of her hand, and suddenly her own smoothly moved out of the way, curling back comfortably to let his hand fit in hers. She didn't even look at him, her smile still wide and her other arm still carrying his jacket, but her hand was soothing and soft against his, and he silently sighed in relief.

They walked hand in hand all the way back to her house, and as she let go to open the door and walk in he ignored the way his hand felt empty, following her in and shutting the door.

"Hey Pumpkin, Stanley! How was church?" Her dad asked, all bubbly enthusiasm. He opened his mouth to answer but Natalie beat him to it, slipping her shoes off and bouncing into the kitchen as she talked.

"Stan got really sick, he nearly barfed on the people in front of us."

"What?! Are you okay Stan, do you still feel sick? Do you need anything?" Before he could get his wits about him, Mr. McAllister was in front of him, pressing a hand to his forehead and looking him over.

"I-I'm fine Mr. M., honest..! She's exaggerating, I was just dizzy. I laid down when we left, I'm feeling much better I swear." He raised his hands up as he talked, trying to deter the old man's frantic worry. To his relief, Mr. McAllister sighed in relief and backed off, ruffling his hair with a grin.

"Oh I'm glad to hear it, I was worried for a minute. If it comes back tell me though, we have lots of cold medicine that could nip whatever it is in the bud. Well I'm making lunch, so you two can get comfortable until that's done!"

"R-right, thanks…" He sighed as Natalie's dad went back into the kitchen, Natalie coming out behind him with a glass of tea. Satan kicked off his shoes and slumped comfortably onto the couch as Natalie came and grabbed the remote, curling up next to him and laying a head against his shoulder. He grabbed her tea as she surfed channels and took a sip, smirking as she complained and took it back. They ended up sharing it back and forth as they watched a movie, and before long he could smell her perfume again, the scent making his eyes droop in content. He slung an arm around the back of the couch and she burrowed down into his side, sipping her cup before passing it to him again.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so calm in such a mundane setting. Ever since he'd gotten stuck here, he'd managed to create a little niche for himself in their everyday lives, and he was enjoying it more and more. It felt like he was in a family again, and the thought both thrilled and terrified him. He glanced down and watched Natalie again, annoyed that he couldn't stop doing it.

He was happy with her. He could feel it, he knew it.

He didn't want to be. He shouldn't be. He _couldn't_ be. There was no way he could. None of this would last. End of Days was coming, and she'd either have to release him or die as he fought Michael and the angels. And even if that fate didn't loom so eerily on the horizon, he was the Devil. She was just a human girl. Her life would be over in the blink of an eye, and she'd be off to Heaven. Of course it'd be Heaven, Hell didn't deserve her.

_He_ didn't deserve her. He knew it. She was too pure, too perfect. Heaevn was lucky to be able to take her. He'd make sure however he could that she went when she died. He'd even escort her to the gates of Heaven himself when she died, consequences be damned. She didn't deserve an eternity of Hell. An eternity of him….

And as much as he wanted to keep her, he would never allow himself to.

"Hey guys, lunch is ready!"

"Awesome! Come on Stan!" Natalie cheered, jumping up and knocking him out of his thoughts. He watched her run into the kitchen, sitting dumbstruck on the couch. No, he needed to get these thoughts out of his head, he'd end up forgetting about her anyway. Soon enough he'd be free and back in Hell and causing trouble, and she'd be a distant memory. He'll forget about her eventually. And it would be for the best. Right…?

If so, then why did the thought make him want to scream?


	4. Cold Nights

"It is way too cold out here, why are you forcing me to join you for this?" Satan grumbled irritably, crossing his arms against the chill.

"Because it's so much fun. Everyone is setting up for Halloween, I wanted to see it all." Natalie was far less moody, nearly bouncing as she walked next to him along the sidewalk, her ever present grin splitting her face wide.

"See what? There's nothing to even see but a bunch of cheap decorations."

"Exactly you dork! I love seeing all the decorations and stuff every year, they go up early around here."

"Too early if you ask me, we're not even halfway through October. It shouldn't even be this cold."

"I know, it's weird. I wonder if it's because of all the rain we've had? Maybe the sun isn't able to show like usual because of the rainclouds, so it's colder?"

"I don't really care, it's stupid no matter what. And even more idiotic that you are dragging me around in it."

"You are such a sourpuss, cheer up!"

"Yeah, how about I not and pretend I won't."

She merely stuck her tongue out in retaliation, a nearby store's display catching her eye. Satan just groaned under his breath, glancing around at all the people walking past them, carrying about their everyday lives and enjoying the new season, despite the weather. He smirked at the dirty looks he got from some, and glared back at the ones that sent looks at Natalie for her being with someone that looked like he did, watching as they hurried their paces along.

"Oh man, Stan look! Isn't it cute?"

"It looks like a fat chipmunk."

"Oh shut up, you're just being mean. It's adorable! Oh I'd almost buy it, it'd fit right on my shelf next to the puppet you gave me." He rolled his eyes as hard as he could manage, walking ahead of her as she tried to balance keeping up with him and looking at the abnormal little stuffed toys in the window display.

"Are we just out here for you to gawk at all the shops and shit? Because if so you have reached a new level of intolerable."

"And if I say yes?" She questioned, grinning. Satan stopped on a dime, his foot still hovered above the concrete, and turned completely around, walking back the way they'd come without a word, his face unreadably blank. Natalie laughed and grabbed his arm, hauling him backwards and continuing forward with her tow in arm.

"Oh no you don't, you are staying out here with me!"

"You are unbelievable, are you five? I'm pretty sure you can be out on your own. Didn't you just make a big deal of 'finally being an official adult'?"

"That doesn't mean I don't _want_ you here with me, genius."

He went silent at the sincerity in her voice, blinking at her as she forced him to walk backwards beside her, shocked. He stared at her, searching for any sign of a joke, but she just smiled, still walking on her merry way and enjoying all the sights of the town in Fall. Finally he caved and looked away as he sighed heavily, righting himself beside her and continuing their walk, though it was an awkward angle now as she still had her arm attached to his. Grabbing her hand he pried it off his arm, only for it to snake itself between his fingers, interlocking their hands like when they'd walked home from church. He jerked his hand back, to the side, up and down, any angles he could, but her hand stayed firmly in his, and she just smiled and continued on her way, an increasingly aggravated man dragging beside her. He stuffed his free hand deep into his pocket, scowling down at her.

"You are unbelievable." He repeated, shoulders hunching as his arm went slack, giving up the fight. She just giggled, eyes scrunching in amusement in that way he'd come to think was pretty cute. Without really judging the idea, he shifted his hand to better accommodate her fingers between his own, noticing the difference between now and a few weeks ago. He'd thought her hand had been small before, it was down right _petite_ now. Her hand felt small and fragile in his, and it was cold from the chill. He stroked his thumb across the back, tightening his grip a bit on reflex, making Natalie start, but he didn't allow her to look him in the eye.

She blinked up at him, her expression blank before she grinned, tightening her fingers to match his grip as she pulled him down the next road, looking up and awing all the designs in glee. He opted to ignore her, as well as the mixed array of smiles and disapproving glances sent their way from the passersby, either thinking it was cute to see such a scary and dangerous-looking man in a dark trenchcoat and scarf holding hands with a cute, peppy girl decked in bright pink and purple, or thinking it was shameful and she'd gotten mixed into the wrong crowd. Oh if they only knew. It ticked him off and made him laugh all at once. But her bubbly excitement crushed both moods, centering his attention completely on her once again, a habit she'd unknowingly made of his.

She was yammering on about some sort of shop that she wanted to go in, and before he could even open his mouth question her, she was dragging him into the store, the sudden heat of the shop a welcome change from the cold. It was a small little shop, decked in dark wood embellishing, and apparently a sweets store at that, judging by all the candy and sugary treats on display around them. He couldn't exactly complain as originally planned with that knowledge in mind. The shopkeeper startled at them, obviously not used to getting such a mismatched pair in the store, but smiled and welcomed them all the same. Natalie responded in kind as she dropped Satan's hand, walking up to the counter to look at the cookies and treats in excitement.

"Stan look, they already have Halloween cookies! Little bats and pumpkins and cats, that's so cute! Man, I haven't been in here in forever, I wonder what I should get-"

He crossed his arms and glanced at her from the corner of his eye as he stood behind her, noticing the way the shopkeeper was bouncing his gaze between Natalie and himself, hesitant curiosity on his face. He caught the man's eye and glared, and he had the good grace to shun away from his gaze. Scoffing in confidant amusement, Satan turned back to watching Natalie, watching her rub her hands together. They were turning red already. Or rather, her right one was. Her left, the one he'd been holding, was wrapped around her other to warm it up. She hadn't even bothered to stick it in her jacket, figured. Her face was turning red too, despite the chill not daunting her grin in the least. He noticed that she wasn't wearing her scarf either; she must have left it at home. 'Insane woman…' his eyebrows knitted in irritation. He glanced up and saw the shopkeeper still glancing up at him and frowned in annoyance. He cast an eye around the store, seeing it was devoid aside from themselves. Well, he'd prefer to not do it out in the streets….

"I'll just get a bag of bat cookies, they look good!"

"Alright then." The man grinned, opening the case and grabbing the cookies, putting them in the bag and closing it tight. Natalie beamed and went to walk to the register as Satan untied his scarf, taking the two ends in each hand and looping it over her head and around her shoulders, pulling her back into his chest. She squeaked in surprise, gaining the shopkeepers attention, but Satan diligently ignored him as he looped it around her neck, tying it and tucking it around her jacket collar, effectively keeping her neck safe from the wind.

"As I said before, you are unbelievable. You were the one that wanted to walk around, if I get stuck with you being sick again because you refuse to take care of yourself I am not going to be a happy guy." He grouched, fixing the scarf and crossing his arms as he watched her. She reached up and touched the scarf, adjusting it before smiling and glancing up at him, winking at him.

"Aw, why would I go and do that when I can just have you taking care of me instead?" she chirped, elbowing him gently and grinning wider at his enraged face. She laughed and skipped to the register, pulling out her wallet to pay for the cookies as he silently seethed behind her. He caught the shopkeep eyeing him behind the register, a shit-eating grin fighting for dominance on the guys face. Satan wanted to punch it off. Or maybe claw it off. Or burn it. Or all three. at once. Yeah, he liked that idea. He cracked his hands in prepared glee, but Natalie walking back over with a couple bat cookies in hand gained his full attention once more.

"Here, I know you'll love these, you love the ones at See's too. I was right, they really are great!" He cocked an eyebrow and took one, biting it in half as she nibbled on hers with a grin, gesturing to the door for them to head out. He gratefully went to move for the exit, but felt a tug on his jacket sleeve as he walked past her. Glancing down at her, he saw her hand held out, making a grabbing motion in the air at him. She had a smug little grin on her face as she chewed on her mouthful of cookie, unable to talk as he gave her an incredulous glare. Her hand stayed in the air and didn't move. He heard a muffled snort come from behind them, and he gnashed his teeth together to fight the urge to burn the guy's face off after all, biting harshly into his cookie as he took his hand out of his pocket and held it up between them, stubbornly looking away from her and fighting the growing heat in his cheeks.

She just smiled happily and re-laced their fingers, bouncing ahead of him and pulling him out the door, oblivious to the way the guy was grinning after them. Satan glared back as she pulled him out, and at the last second, he morphed his face and bared his full fangs, a snake-like tongue slithering out of his mouth as he smiled to the man. The guy fell over in horror, and Satan could pick on the muffled, terrified shrieks through the door as it shut, grinning wide in pride and fighting his laughter as he popped the rest of the cookie in his mouth, letting Natalie pull him along behind her, not even noticing the noises. It was nearly dark outside already, the streetlights starting to come on slowly as dusk fell.

"Where should we go now?" She hummed, swallowing the last of her cookie and stuffing the bag in her pocket.

"Wherever you want kid, you're the one that came out here." He answered smoothly, his grin curling his lip as he looked out over the streets. She did a double-take at him, eyes wide at his sudden good mood.

"Wow I should get you cookies more often. Hmm, lets go to the park then! It'll be nice, they put up lights in the trees for the holidays and it's really cool looking at night! They should be up by now." She looked down the street and pulled him across, heading to the little park as she raised her hand and pulled his scarf up, tucking her face into it to block the chill. He raised his own hand to pull his jacket lapels tighter around his neck, before burying his hand back into his pocket, unknowingly catching her eye as he did. Her grip on his scarf tightened.

As they neared the park, the glow of little white lights scattered everywhere greeted them, and she bounced happily at being right as they walked past the few small groups of people huddled around and chatting under the strings of lights in the trees, enjoying the last of the evening. A soft chime caught their attention, and they looked over to see a small concession stand, a woman selling little cups to the people huddled around. Natalie gasped in surprise.

"Hey, is she selling hot chocolate? Awesome! Hey stay here, I'll be back in a sec!" She dropped his hand and rushed over before he could say anything for the second time in that day alone. He stuffed his hand back into his pocket as he glanced around, noticing that the skin was warmer than it should have been being out in the cold air. Her's was probably even warmer, and the thought comforted him a bit. At least she wasn't freezing because of it. Her voice pulled him out of his thoughts as she did her best to not slosh the cups of hot liquid as she came back over to him excitedly.

"Check it out, hot chocolate! Here, this one's yours." She handed him the cup, looping her arm with his and leading him over to an empty bench. They sat and sipped their cups as they looked up at the lights and growing stars, the soft murmur of people talking a background buzz as a strong gust of air hit them through the trees. Natalie shivered, and Satan raised his hand to curl his collar against it, again catching Natalie's eye. She bit her lip, starting to feel bad for inadvertently stealing his scarf before an idea hit her.

"Here, can you hold this for a second for me?" She asked, handing him the cup as the word 'No.' passed his lips, ignoring the way his lip curled over his teeth in chagrin as she pushed the little styrofoam cup into his free hand. She sat up and unwrapped the scarf from its sturdy knot around her neck, shivering at the chill that hit her neck as she took it off, appreciating his sentiment all the more. She straitened it out again before leaning over to him, slipping it over his head.

"What are you doing, I gave that to-"

"Shush, hang on." She silenced him, tugging it out before slipping under his arm, borrowing into his side and wrapping the back of the scarf around her own neck as well, before looping it around until she couldn't anymore, swaddling them both in it tight. She raised her legs onto the seat and got comfortable in her spot crushed close against him, her back pressed to his side and her head against his shoulder, before taking her hot chocolate out of his now stiff arm. All of him was rigid in fact. Glancing up she saw him eyeing her warily.

"What's the big idea kid? You are way too close for my liking."

"Why? It's productive, and I lean against you all the time when we sit together. Not a fan of P.D.A.~?" He sputtered, his face twisting in disgust as she sipped her cocoa, content to ignore his indignant howls. He dropped his arm to the back of the bench, scooting as far away from her as he could, which was hardly a few inches, as the scarf effectively tied them together, and her warmth against his side was actually quite welcoming compared to the wind. He growled quietly in his throat as he drank his cup, crossing a leg over the other as Natalie pulled out the cookies she'd bought for them to share, handing him a new one each time he finished the last until they were gone, their empty cups discarded on the ground for the time being.

They sat and enjoyed the quiet as the people filed out slowly, everyone dispersing as the night grew late and colder. After the last of the people hanging around had left, Satan allowed himself to relax more into the seat, leaning back into Natalie to make up for the space made earlier. She grinned up at him and he noticed how red her nose and face had gotten, even with her face buried into his scarf.

"Are you even cold yet? It's like the weather doesn't affect you, we should get back before you get frostbite." He said, reaching down and taking her hand in his again; feeling how cold the digits actually were, he frowned down at her. She just shrugged, trying to push it aside nonchalantly.

"I don't care, I'm cozy. We can go back in a little bit, can't we stay longer?" She whined, pouting as she tried to give him her best puppy eyes. It was useless against him, she didn't even need to use them to get him to cave and do something for her, regardless of the contract. But she sure as Hell didn't need to know that if she didn't already. None the less, the way her eyes stared pleadingly up at him made his gut wrench, and he sighed, hanging his head in defeat, and she recognized her victory. She hooted, bouncing on the bench in self satisfaction as he slumped down in the seat, letting go of her hand to wrap his arm around her shoulders and pull her tighter against his body to keep her warmer. Her hands came up to wrap around his forearm, her head leaning down to rest on his shoulder as she closed her eyes. Satan just sighed and idly rubbed his hand up and down her arm gently, his other hand raising to stroke her hair and toy with the bun in it.

He didn't mind the situation all that much anyway, he liked having her curled so tight against himself, having a physical closeness to her. As often as she hung on him, it never really felt this nice. It was irrelevant when she hung on his arm or shoulder or hopped on his back to irritate him. Having her huddled into him just for the sake of it, and not wanting to move because of it, felt fulfilling to a degree that he wasn't sure he should even feel. He couldn't even figure out why it seemed so right.

He sat quiet as he gently ran his fingers over her, his hand running down her hair to the back of her neck to stroke the little bit of skin under her jacket collar. She flinched away at the chill in his fingers, but sunk back into her warm encasement in his arms after a moment to let him continue. He watched her rest against him, his fingers tracing invisible lines over her skin as he explored. Her skin was soft, tender and pale like porcelain, a good match to her gentle strawberry blonde hair. His fingers snaked around the back of her neck, trickling up under her chin and gripping around her throat, his thumb stroking her jaw as she sighed. He gently pushed his hand up, and she accommodated his movements, tilting her head back to bear her throat what little she could under the warm scarf, his hand wrapped around the entirety of the front of her neck, gently caressing his fingertips across.

He could hurt her like this. Anyone could. His hand was fast enough, strong enough to snap her neck, crush her windpipe, his claws could slice her jugular open, he could even completely decapitate her if he so chose. But she trusted him entirely. She didn't have the vaguest idea what he was doing or what he wanted, but she was letting him do it without any fight, and the realization sent a chilling fear down his spine. She trusted him so much, and she shouldn't. She shouldn't be so at ease with evil incarnate having her in his arms. But he still didn't want to hurt her. At all. Never. The thought made him feel angry and sickened.

He looked at her face tilted against his shoulder, almost lying against his chest. She was still gripping his arm in her hands and she was so content just to lay against him. She was even smiling. The sight threw him, his fingers slowing against her neck as he saw her so at peace. She really was flawless. She was more irritably, annoyingly, aggravatingly terrible to be stuck with than he could possibly explin, and he adored all of it even when he hated it. Everything she did that made him want to rip his horns out with aggravation he found adorable or endearing in another light. He hated seeing her upset, and he hated the cold guilt he felt in his gut when he was the one that had caused it, and he tried to make up for it in any way he could while also trying to act like he didn't care at all. She jumbled him up and left him out in the ocean, underwater wondering which way was up, which way was air from the addiction.

He didn't want to hurt her at all. He wanted to keep her. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to keep her happy.

He wanted to kiss her. To actually kiss her right instead of like that night that he'd been interrupted. He could do it now. All he had to do was lean down, it'd be easy. It was quiet and no one was around but them, no distractions. He could just-

He jerked his hand back, shooting straight up in his seat as she blinked up at his sudden movements, confusion across her face. Her perfectly pretty face…

"What's wrong?"

"We should get back, you're cold. I am too for that matter. It's late anyway." His hands made quick work of the scarf, unraveling it and putting it back around her shoulders and neck. She grabbed his arm again at his words, looking up at him.

"Aww no! Can't we stay?" She whined, a frown taking over her expression. He swallowed thickly, glancing away from her, anywhere but her.

"I let you stay out here when you asked me, it's time we head back. Come on." He took his arm back from her, pushing her into a sitting position so he could stand, grabbing their discarded cups and walking over to the trash can. When he'd turned back she was standing and stretching, and he walked past her to the end of the park.

"Hey wait for me!" She shouted, running after him and grabbing his arm, latching onto his warmth once more. He stuffed his hands in his pocket, glad and disappointed that she didn't ask for his hand again.

They made quick work of the long walk home, and by the time they got back she was ready for a hot bath. She went to her room and grabbed some clothes before escaping into the bathroom while Satan returned the jacket and scarf to their usual place. He walked to her room and changed back to his own form, collapsing onto her bed as he heard the shower go.

He needed to get this out of his head. He needed it out of his head _months_ ago. It was getting severely out of hand. He didn't want this. He just had to keep telling himself that. He just had to lie, pretend he believed the lie, pretend it was all in his head and not his heart, not in the heart that hurt at the thought of pushing her against the wall and finally ravaging her mouth with all he had in him. His heart that hurt at the thought of how she'd hate it, hate him for it, how she'd be disgusted and angry and maybe even scared. Why would she be okay with the Devil wanting her just because she'd managed to befriend him? Managed to burrow herself deep under his skin, deep in his mind, deep in his heart?

Yes, he needed to stop it now. Just ignore it, eventually it would stop. It would become a distant memory, a dull ache he could ignore and not a burning in his blackened soul that threatened to consume him faster than the Hellfire he'd created.

He heard the shower stop, knocking his attention to the door. Sitting up, he made his way back to his corner, sitting down and crossing his arms as she came in, toweling the last of the water out of her hair with a smile. She bounced around the room as usual, checking to make sure she'd finished all her homework and done everything she'd needed to for the night before she bid him goodnight and went to bed. She grabbed the Satan puppet off the shelf and curled up with it as he left her room to watch television in the living room, and he forced himself to swallow the pain he felt in his chest as he closed the door behind him.

It was all just in his head, after all.


	5. Terror Nights

"So, Halloween is coming up." Natalie said lightly as she ran the towel over her head, wringing the water out of her hair after her fresh shower, plopping down onto the edge of her dead as she did so. She glanced over at Satan out of the corner of her eye, keeping an air of indifference as she fought an excited grin. He was sitting against the wall with yet another book, his legs drawn up and criss-crossed. She was beginning to wonder if he'd finished every book they own aside from the bible in her drawer yet, and was on at least round two of rereading them. She should take him to a library sooner or later, he'd probably like it.

"So?" He didn't bother to look up at her from his book, merely turning a page and ignoring her as per usual. She wasn't perturbed though, she was far too used to his attitude at this point and knew him too well. She could get him to crack one way or another.

"Sooo, I was wondering what you wanted to do for it. If you have a preference you should say it before it's too late." She grinned at the calender on the wall, seeing the little pumpkins she'd doodled on the box reading "31st". Only a little over a week left, and she was ready for the wait to be over. Satan scoffed from his spot on the floor, drawing her attention back.

"A preference huh? How about we, as in, you, stop bringing it up and ignore it like any regular day." He grouched, turning another page. She pouted on her bed, slapping the towel down onto her bedsheets.

"Oh come on, I'd think you'd like Halloween! It's a day made entirely of scaring people and getting diabetic levels of sugar and candy. Aren't those two of your favorite things?"

"You have me pegged Kid, I'll give you that, but that doesn't mean I give a shit about your little holiday. It's just another mundane day out of the year; it's not even like it has any significance, all that superstition you humans encircle it with are just that: superstitions. All irrelevant."

"Jeez you are such a Debbie-Downer, come on! It gives you an excuse to scare the daylights out of people and have fun for once, you should lighten up a bit." She got up and stood in front of him with a smile nearly splitting her face, a small ball of barely-contained excitement over one of her favorite holidays.

"Hmmm… Nope, I'm pretty sure I'm good." He answered lightly, pursing his lips and popping the 'p' in derision. She huffed, crossing her arms with a skeptical glare down at him.

"So I can just assume you have no preference then?" She said with a tone that was all-too-sly for his tastes. She grinned and bent over, slapping her hands flat over each of the pages, obscuring them as she lowered her face to be even with his. A cunning grin that made him startle back when he was finally forced to look up at her from his book curled her lips, and it only widened in glee at his wary expression.

"If that's the case then I guess you don't have plans either, right? That means you're free to take me to the Scream-park on Halloween night!" She smiled as his face twisted into understanding and then contained anger.

_"What? Hell_ no, I'm not going anywhere with you, especially if it has to do with Halloween, because I can already tell it'll end badly for me. I've started to get a sixth sense for this shit. At this point I can instinctively tell when some scheme of yours is going to wind up biting me in the ass." He tried to yank the book back but she curled her fingers over the edges, keeping it in her grasp and as a consequence, his attention as well. Her happy bubble wasn't pierced in the least by his hot gaze, her eyes burning right back into his, a challenge and a war of wills between them. She knew which one of them would lose, and they both knew it pissed him off that she was right. It was just a matter of whittling his fight down sliver by sliver, a craft and skill that she'd all but perfected now, and she took full advantage of her little personal privilege.

She watched as his eyebrows twitched, his lip raising to let a silent, feral snarl out as his hands gripped harder at the book trapped between them, the poor unfortunate cover gaining dents where his fingers dug into it's surface. She stared into his eyes as his bore into her own, and she could see the pure fire in them, the challenge that he'd never admit he enjoyed, the snake-like pupils a mere sliver in his anger and excitement. As she watched though, she saw the way they warmed and slowly relaxed, the pupils dilating a bit as they both watched each other, and she almost thought he'd cave. Suddenly he yanked hard on the book, ripping it out of her grip and above his head, a grin splitting his face as he sneered up at her.

"Nice try Girl, but you aren't tricking me." She pouted as he brushed the cover of the book, dutifully ignoring her once more as he ran his fingers over the dents in the misused literature. She huffed in annoyance and dropped to the floor in front of him, mirroring his sitting arrangement and crossing her arms.

"That's not fair. Why don't you want to go, it'll be fun!"

"Doubtful."

"I want to go."

"I don't care."

"You're mean."

"I know."

She groaned loudly, her shoulders going slack in disappointed defeat as she frowned, her mind spinning gears in an attempt to find another method to drag him to the themepark as he returned to his book. Sticking her lip out at him childishly, she turned herself around and leaned back, landing splayed in his lap and earning an undignified cry from him as her cold and still wet head unexpectedly met his abdomen and chest. No matter how often she leaned against him, she was always mildly surprised that he didn't feel like a brick wall with how muscled he was. Surprisingly, he was always comfortable, sturdy and hard, but not badly so. She felt peaceful like this. Like nothing could get to her. Safe even? She didn't know for sure.

He, on the other hand, was far from happy with the situation, as always. He'd gone stiff, lifting his book up again to look down at the pile of girl in his lap, his face a mask she couldn't read aside from the obvious apprehension and annoyance. She tilted her head up to glance at him from her new position, her knees drawing up and her arms hanging straight and limp over the edges of his legs like the arms of a chair, which was what she'd basically made of him. And she could see he didn't approve. It made her grin again, and she forced herself to appear as innocent as possible. His scowl just deepened.

"Why are you doing this."

"What?"

"This."

"What's 'this'?"

"You know damn well what 'this' is."

"Hm, no I don't think I do, or I wouldn't have asked."

"Get off."

"No."

"Yes."

"No, I'm comfortable."

"I'm _not_. You're shampoo is too strong by the way, you reek of strawberries."

"I thought you liked strawberries."

"That has nothing to do with this."

"You still haven't explained what 'this' is yet."

"I'm going to throw you through the fucking wall."

"No you won't." She said it confidently, sinking further into her little Satan-cushion and closing her eyes in satisfaction. She felt the growl rumble and vibrate in his chest before she even heard it, and then the book thunked down onto her head.

"Ow! Hey, don't hit me just because you can't take a joke, butthead!"

"You are atrocious at name calling Kid."

"And you don't know how to have fun."

"I'm not a "fun" person, I would have thought you'd learn that by now."

"You are when you want to be."

"Well I don't _want_ to be, now do I?" He growled, snapping his book shut and tossing it to the side where it landed on a small pile of trash. Unbeknownst to him, something suddenly zipped out from the pile, catching Natalie's eye as it skirted the paneling and went behind the table across the room. She shrieked, rocketing up and launching herself fully into Satan's lap, her arms wrapping like steel bars around his neck before he'd even had a chance to get his wits about him. She screeched and babbled too fast for him to understand, and his ears started to ring. With a curse, he grabbed her around the waist, pulling her back down into his lap and stopping her frantic attempts to climb him as he clapped a hand over her mouth, roughly squeezing her cheeks and forcing her to look at him and not at the other side of the room.

"For fuck's sake, _shut up!_ What the hell are you freaking out over!?" She muffled out some shrieked word and pointed desperately at the table, her eyes still staring as best they could at the spot. Unable to understand what she was saying, he tentatively loosened his grip over her mouth, his hand still holding her head towards him as he gave her room to talk.

"Want to try that again, _calmly?" _he stressed, keeping a tight grip on her as she tried to twist in his lap, curled up on her knees.

"_Mouse!_ There's a mouse in the room again! It went behind the table, get it get it!" Suddenly she was shoved roughly to the floor, landing in a heap on the carpet. She huffed and looked up to see him standing and glaring down at her.

"Are you _kidding me? _You're freaking out over a little mouse _again?_ And you're wanting me to take you to a damn themepark where the sole purpose is to scare the shit out of you? You are absolutely pathetic!" He shouted, stomping over to the table and pulling it out, snatching the mouse up by it's tail with one clean motion, the poor thing not quick enough to get away. He brought it up to his face and willed it to feel all his collected hatred as he sneered at it.

"You are a lucky little bastard, if I didn't want to avoid another fucking mouse funeral you'd be roadkill under my heel." He walked to her bed and reached out to throw the window open, but arms wrapping around his waist and trying futilely to pull him back stopped him.

"What _now!?" _he roared, lookingdown as she locked her arms tight around his waist, shaking her head.

"Don't throw it out the window! You killed the last one when you did that, put it out some other way." He fought the urge to slap his hand over his face as he stood back up straight, instead throwing his arms up, mouse still in hand.

"Fine! Fucking fine. Let's go." He turned on his heel, marching out the door as she slipped her arms from around his waist and latched onto his arm instead, letting him lead the way to the front door. He changed form temporarily to his human one, jerking his arm free from her iron grip and pulling the door open as he kneeled down and sat the mouse on the steps. Natalie clambered behind him, gripping his shoulders and peering around him as she watched the mouse dart away from them, scurrying as fast as it could down the sidewalk and into the bushes. Satisfied, Satan stood and turned on her, grabbing her face in his hands again and forcing her to look at him as he kicked the door shut.

"There. No bird, no cat, no stray feet to squash the fucker, and _no more mice funerals. Got it?"_ She grinned around his grip and nodded happily, her fear and upset over the mouse dissipating immediately. He groaned, letting go of her and pinching the bridge of his nose as he turned back to normal.

"All this bullshit over a little mouse and you seriously want to go to a damn horror park? You are out of your mind, I know there is no way you can handle it. You'll break down crying and have me bring you home before the night is over." She gasped, offense writing itself across her face at his accusations.

"I will not! I like horror and getting scared. I just don't like mice, they're gross and creepy." He scoffed, crossing his arms and shaking his head. After a tense moment, he nodded, raising his hands in surrender.

"You know what, fine. We'll go. But only because I want to see the look on your face when you beg me to get you out of there and you know that I was right." Natalie's face lit up in a 100 watt smile as she squealed excitedly, launching at him again and hugging tight as he tried to pry her off, her happy thank you's mixing with his demands for her to let go.

She babbled on and on about how great the day would be and how much fun they'd have, and he just blocked her out once more. The week and a half seemed to fly by and they both looked forward to the day as it fast approached. He was going to enjoy seeing her scared at the park.

—-

As it turned out, she was having the time of her life, and he was hating his more than ever. She'd been a bouncing ball of energy since she'd woken up that morning, and he didn't know if he expected her to burn out before they even made it to the park or not. She didn't however, and only grew more excited as they'd gotten to the park in the late afternoon. She wanted to walk around a bit before nightfall, when everything would pick up and get serious. With a little deliberation, she'd put a precautionary order on him to not punch, attack, or otherwise harm any of the actors walking around that would be scaring them. She had a feeling if she didn't, they'd wind up kicked out before the night was out, and she wanted to enjoy herself as much as possible, considering she had a very large, very intimidatingly unhappy man trailing behind her.

"I think you're going to wind up scaring the actors, it's supposed to be the other way around you know."

"Aren't you clever; really, I don't know how you come up with this stuff."

"Oh come on, it's exciting! I can't wait until the fun starts."

"It's just a bunch of humans in costumes and too much make-up, I fail to see how this is supposed to be scary. My worst minions are more intimidating."

"You'll see soon enough. Oh look, they've got a house of horror! We should go in when it gets really dark." He just sighed in exasperation. Soon enough though, night fell, and the fabled fun finally started. The park was quickly filled with screams and shrieks of fear as the participants and park goers were chased and jumped out at by the actors and exhibits, and Natalie was not exempt. She screeched at the top of her lungs as people popped out left and right, sneaking up on them and shouting, but each time she dissolved into laughter, her grin wide enough to kill. She was enjoying it to the fullest, and Satan was thrown for a loop. He almost didn't want to admit it, but he was nearly impressed with her reactions. Impressed, or fearful of her sanity. He wasn't sure just yet.

She dragged him in and out of different exhibits and buildings; the house of horror, the mansions, the cemetery, the slaughter house, the mazes, one right after the other, and she wasn't unaware of the way Satan was becoming increasingly uncomfortable as the night went on. He was stiff and glancing around warily with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, trying to play it off and be sly, but he couldn't hide it from her, and watching him only made her grin wider.

The clincher for her was undoubtedly when they stopped at a small concession stand though. They'd stopped to get a drink, but before they could, a large man with an ax in hand had jumped up behind them, roaring at the crowd. She broke into a sprint with a scream and scattered with the rest of the small group around them, staggering to a stop by the nearby light pole in a fit of giggles before she realized Satan wasn't next to her anymore. Only after looking around had she found him, right ahead of her at the fence nearby, doubled over with his hands on his knees, a panting, huffing mess. She'd broken down laughing at the sight, stumbling over to him with her arms around her ribs, his face an indignant red that only made her laugh harder until she nearly fell. She'd poked at and teased him, grabbing his arm and pulling him back into the crowd, not letting go of his hand as they continued on to more of the attractions. She could feel his hand tighten around hers when they were attacked, and he diligently ignored her jabs at him for the rest of the night.

Against his initial assumptions, she made it all the way through the night, and was even devastated when it had ended, pouting as they were made to leave when it was over. They made their way home as a storm rumbled in the distance, and Natalie was grinning from ear to ear, a sight that Satan was not happy with.

"Just admit it already! You. Got. Scared." She sang, wagging her finger at him as she shucked her jacket and threw it on her bed, sitting down to untie her shoes. Satan avoided her gaze in earnest, crossing his arms as he brooded in his corner.

"Why would I say that when it's not true, that's stupid."

"Oh please, you nearly outran me when that big guy popped up behind us at the concession stand. No matter how macho you try to be or how bad you think you are, you were scared dude." She snickered, wagging a finger at him as he scrunched his face in indignation.

"It was just a bunch of humans walking around in costumes, there was nothing to any of it. I knew this would come back to bite me in the ass, I fucking knew it." He defended weakly, shoulders hunching.

"A bunch of humans in costume that managed to actually scare the Devil, maybe." She laughed as she grabbed her nightclothes, narrowly dodging his grip as she escaped into the bathroom to brush her teeth and change. As much as she loved teasing him any chance she got, she actually found it cute that he'd been jumpy. He wasn't immune to everything after all. She liked seeing him gentler like that, it wasn't a sight she got to see often. She finished brushing her teeth and tossed her clothes in the hamper to be washed with a grin, stretching as she turned to make her way back down the hall. Suddenly a loud thunderclap resounded throughout the house, and the electricity flickered and died, leaving her in the pitch dark. She screamed.

"Satan help!"

"Calm down, kid. It's just a storm, no need to panic." She heard him say as he walked out of her room, his voice getting closer and closer as he spoke; she felt a light touch brush her hand before she felt him take it, pulling her forward. She latched onto his arm, clinging as tight as she could as she fought the trembling down.

She could still hear the thunder rolling, and it was getting loud.

He led her back to the room, closing the door behind them, guiding her back to the bed and yanking the curtains partially open to let the lightning flash across the room. He could see the fear on her face.

"For fuck's sake, kid, you just went to a horror theme park and you were perfectly fine there. You can survive a little blackout storm." He said roughly, and she scowled into the dark.

"Shut up, you know I hate storms." he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah I know, shut up. What do you want me to do about it though? I can't exactly snap my fingers and fix the storm." She sat quiet, gnawing at her lip as she curled up tight on the bed. The thunder continued to crack above them, making her flinch every now and then.

"…could I ask a favor?"

"…I think I already know where this is going, so I guess you may as well."

"Can you lay with me? Until I go to sleep?" A long, quiet moment passed before she heard him sigh heavily, then shuffling for a moment before he spoke again.

"Scoot over Girl, you get the wall."

"What did you just do?"

"Took my shoes off." She scooted back as instructed, yanking the covers down as she felt the bed dip under his weight before he moved the pillows into a pile against the headboard, laying back against them. She burrowed into his side, that comforting, not-so-hard sturdiness almost immediately making her relax as she pulled the blanket up and tossed it over their sides. She laid her head on his chest, slinging an arm across to rest on his shoulder as she curled her legs up under his, sighing in content. She felt him shift his arm around her, and a moment later his hand was on her head, gently stroking her hair in silence; she merely smiled, pressing her cheek more firmly against him and tightening her grip in appreciation. Another flash of lightning lit up the room and she saw he was looking out the window, watching the storm, the soft insistent patter of the rain hitting the glass soothing where it had been terrifying a moment before.

She really felt completely safe like this. Like nothing could get her. Like he'd protect her from anything that came their way. It was so easy to forget just who she was holding onto, just who was stroking her hair and holding her so carefully, so comfortingly through a storm. And she really didn't mind. She knew she shouldn't be so attached. She shouldn't care about him, be friends with him. But she did and was. There was no getting out of that. She couldn't bring herself to care that he was technically the bad guy in this big mess. He didn't act like it. It was so easy to forget, to not care, and she liked it that way.

And if it was somehow wrong that she fall asleep cradled tight in the arms of the Devil, she couldn't see herself being on the side of the right.


	6. (Date) Dinner Nights

He smelled the smoke and distinct stench of irretrievably-burned food before he even heard the smoke detector, and by the time it was going off he was already off the couch and rushing into the kitchen, and subsequently, the thick cloud of black smoke that had formed as well. He coughed as it filled his lungs, waving a hand in front of his face as he looked over to the source of the would-be house fire, a smoking stove and a distressed little red-headed thorn in his side frantically trying to turn off said appliance. He grabbed a nearby dishtowel as he paced over to her, holding it over his nose and mouth to block the smoke as he grabbed her roughly by the arm and pulled her back, making quick work of the switches and pulling the pot off the burner, the hiss of something burning stopping as he did. Sighing into his makeshift smoke mask, he turned on her with a glare and watched her flinch, a sheepish grin coming to her face as he watched her scrabble for an explanation as the smoke detector screeched behind her.

"I swear, I can explain this. Just, give me like, 5 minutes to figure out how to do that… ha…ha?" His eyes narrowed as he pulled the towel away, his annoyance nearly palpable in the room. The incessant screech of the smoke alarm still filled the room, loud and shrill; he turned away and walked over to the smoke detector, waving the towel around to clear the smoke away and silence the pesky device.

"How about we try 15 seconds? _Go_." She jolted, hands flying up to uselessly flail at the air as she rushed frantically over her words as he started ticking the seconds away on his fingers.

"I-I was trying to make dinner since dad won't be home tonight, so I was just going to boil some water and start cooking, but something started burning when I was heating up the sauce and when I tried to figure out what it was, something else started smoking andIkindofpanickedand-! Ugh, stop giving me that look, it was an accident!" He bit into his lip to stifle the cackle in the back of his throat, his eyebrows knitting together with the effort. He walked back to the smoldering stove, waving the smoke away with the towel to inspect the damage.

"Only you can fuck up boiling water… What were you even trying to make?"

"….Spaghetti."

"_This_ is supposed to be spaghetti?" He grabbed the wooden spoon on the counter and poked at the clump in the middle of the pan. The water had nearly completely boiled away, leaving a film around the edges of the pan.

"Kid, I honestly think your cooking could kill a man." He said blandly, prodding at the clump of what once could have been considered food. He felt for the poor fucker that married this girl one day….

"Oh my god shut up, you can't even die." She shot back, crossing her arms and sticking her tongue out at him. He looked at her from over his shoulder with a grin, turning back to poking the gnarled knot in front of him. It looked like it could leap out of the pan and eat his horns off. He chuckled at the thought.

"Well congratulations Girl, because I think you just achieved the impossible and broke that rule. I may have to sneak some of this into Michael's lunch…" She gasped, an indignant glare burning into his back.

"You are such a jerk. I was just trying to make some food for us, you don't have to be so mean."

"Alright alright, I got it. I don't think this is salvageable though. Probably best to bury it. And add a slab of concrete on top just in case." He snickered as she slapped his arm in reproach, wincing as the sting carried over into her own arm. She sighed, grabbing a chair and sinking into it, pursing her lips as she looked at the fridge.

"What do you want to do about dinner then? We need to go grocery shopping, so I don't know how much we have to make in the house. We can order out I guess…" The clatter of the wooden spoon dropping onto the stove jerked her attention back, and she saw Satan turning on her, his finger already up and fire in his eyes, an argument on the tip of his tongue.

"_No way,_ that is _not_ happening. I am not doing take-out again, I am fed up with fast food and delivery bullshit. We're going with Plan C." Without another word, he grabbed the pot and took it outside, dumping it in the trash can and coming back in and putting the pot in the sink before disappearing through the doorway, heading to her room. Curiosity getting the better of her, she jumped from the chair and followed, standing in the doorway and watching as he walked back and forth through the room, grabbing their jackets and her wallet and keys as he looked around for something else.

"Quick question, where's that black shirt I like?"

"Bottom drawer of my dresser in the back, I hid it so dad wouldn't steal it back from you, why? What are you even doing?" He dropped down and pulled the drawer out, rooting around and pulling the button up out with a satisfied grin, whirling around on her and tossing the shirt over a shoulder as he grabbed her brush and handed it to her.

"Get dressed Kid, we're going out for dinner. You got 5 minutes, so hurry up." He dodged around her as she sputtered on her words, and she could only watch as he pulled her door shut behind him, her words falling on deaf ears as she was left alone in her room. She huffed, stomping her foot in a fit as she pulled the brush through her hair, knowing he meant full well that she only had five minutes to get ready. She grabbed her black skirt and vest from her drawer and a red top and pulled them on before dragging her brown boots out from underneath her bed. She grabbed her headband and walked out the door to the bathroom, fixing her hair and brushing her teeth as she heard clattering coming from the kitchen. It sounded like Satan was apparently cleaning up the mess, so she didn't need to worry about that.

She finished fixing her hair, strolling out of the bathroom and into the kitchen to survey the war zone. She'd been right, all the mess was gone, the dirty dishes piled in the sink to be washed later, and Satan was wiping off the stove, already in his human form and clad in only his shoes and jeans, his shirt still slung over his shoulder and their jackets on the chair and her wallet and keys on the table. She walked over while he finished cleaning, grabbing them and sticking her stuff into a pocket, turning to watch him as he through the rag away and pulled his shirt on, buttoning it and rolling the sleeves up in record time. He turned and paused as he took his jacket out of her hand, his eyes darting over her for a moment before looking away again, too quickly for her to see the look in his eyes or the way his body had gone stiff as they pulled their jackets on and turned off the lights.

"You ready to go?"

"Yep, lead the way."

"Let's go then." He marched through the house and out the door, letting her lock the door behind them before setting off down the sidewalk towards one of the closer restaurants outside the park. Natalie smiled to herself as they walked in silence, the sound of their heels on the pavement the only sound in the crisp air as night approached, the cool wind blowing her hair back and ruffling their jackets. It was nice, peaceful.

The restaurant was a small one, cozy but nice, and gratefully not busy that night as their waitress lead them to the back of the restaurant, handing them their menus as they slipped into their seats across from each other, each of them crossing their legs on habit. The girl nodded as she took their drink orders and flashed a painfully wide smile as she skipped off, leaving Natalie to smack Satan with her menu as he choked on a laugh at the way she had looked at them.

"Stop it, we're here to have dinner not scare the work staff."

"I can't help it that everyone immediately shies away from me. And I don't want to. It's still funny every time." He smirked as the girl came back, her stiff posture as she sat down their glasses and took out her pad not going unnoticed to his eye.

"You'd think that'd get old pretty fast… But in any case, what do you want to get? I think I want the Salisbury Steak, it looks good." The girl scribbled down Natalie's order quickly and glanced at him, but he paid her no mind, merely folding the menu and taking Natalie's, handing them over to the girl.

"I guess I'm going with spaghetti, that failed monstrosity you created has me in the mood for some." Natalie scoffed, kicking his foot under the table as she pouted, causing their waitress to snort on a laugh, quickly excusing herself to place their orders. When she left he allowed himself to kick her back, grinning at the face she made, feeling her place her foot against his shin and push.

"Will you at least _try_ to behave? This is a nice little restaurant, we can't be making a fuss here, they'll throw us out."

"Says the girl that's kicking my leg. That's pretty hypocritical of you."

"I'm not kicking you, I just have my leg against yours. There's no crime in that."

"No, but that _is_ suggestive as Hell. I didn't know you wanted to be so close to me Kid." He leaned forward, leaning on his elbows on the table, his grin widening at the little exclaimed noise she made, her face twisting in scandalized annoyance; heat creeped into her cheeks despite herself as she glanced at the few tables of people around them, checking to make sure no one could hear or was watching them. She quickly kicked his shin again before pulling her leg back, glaring at him before she felt him kick out again, wrapping his leg around hers and trapping it, smirking wickedly in a way that she wasn't entirely sure she liked or hated, even as her leg was stuck in his grip.

"Let go..! We're in public dude, stop playing!" She hissed, hunching forward as best she could to make up for the way he had her leg curled with his.

"You started it. I don't think I want to stop it." She fell silent at the odd tone in his voice, eyes narrowing at his oh-so-pleased-with-himself grin as she scrutinized his expression. His eyes were guarded again. She hated when he did that, made it so she couldn't know what he was thinking, couldn't tell just by looking into his eyes how he was feeling. Face scrunching, she growled under her breath, hands gripping the edge of the table in annoyance. Shifting in her seat, she scooted closer to the edge of the seat so he wasn't pulling her forward as much, curling her leg around his as well, seeing the way his eyes widened a fraction and he tensed, barely, hardly noticeable. But she still saw it, and it gave her pause, her mind spinning gears as the waitress reappeared, carrying their plates on a tray.

"Here you go, salisbury steak for her and spaghetti for him, if there's anything I can do for you two just let me know! Enjoy your meal!" Natalie smiled back politely as the girl flashed her painful looking grin and scurried away once more, grabbing her fork and digging into her food as Satan did the same, eyes trained on his food and meticulously away from her own. His leg stayed entwined with hers however, locked at the ankles, and she couldn't bring herself to take hers back from him, she couldn't figure out why. She decided to push it down though, too hungry to focus on anything but her food at the moment.

The clink of silverware and glasses and soft chatter filled the air, a comforting lull she enjoyed, and she subconsciously swayed her leg to the peaceful background noise, drawing Satan's attention without meaning to. She did notice when his leg moved as well though, picking up her unconscious rhythm and swaying in time with her under the table, one of them occasionally pulling playfully at the other to mess with them as they enjoyed their meal.

"Well you aren't saying anything, so I guess it's safe to say you aren't unhappy with the food." She grinned, nudging a meatball on his plate with a fork, causing him to peg her with an enraged glare, using his own fork to pull the meatball away from hers almost possessively.

"It's better than yours, so I can't complain. You have your own food too, so don't mess with mine."

"Aw don't be so stingy, maybe I want to try it."

"No way! If you wanted some you should have ordered something else."

"You can try mine if you like, it's good. Sharing is caring dude."

"I don't want to share with you, and I don't want to eat something you've been slobbering on either."

"Oh come on, you big baby. Here," she smirked as she pushed her plate forward, grabbing his and maneuvering them so they sat side by side on the table between them for both to get at easily. She reached for her plate, cutting a piece of the meat and skewering it with her fork, raising it up to show him.

"It won't bite back, come on. It's really good." He gave her an incredulous look, blinking at her, then the offending food held up to his face, then back at her.

"You're kidding right?" She just smiled, raising her other hand to lean her chin into, bouncing their locked ankles in passive-aggressive waiting. He opened his mouth to argue, but his words tangled in his throat and made it hard to breathe around them, the playful happy look on her face shooting him right out of the air. He sat stiff for a moment before his shoulders sagged and he sighed, his head dropping as he groaned in defeat, shaking his head as she bounced happily in her seat. Fixing her with the most hateful glare he could muster (that aggravatingly didn't faze her in the least), he opened his mouth and let her feed him the piece of meat, biting it off her fork and ignoring the impish little smirk she had as he curled some spaghetti onto his own fork.

"See? I told you it was good, and you didn't believe me. You're such a sore sport-" She blinked as she was suddenly presented with a forkful of spaghetti in front of her face. Satan's face was just a guarded as before, but he had a playful grin fighting for dominance on his face, and it made her giggle. She took the bite of spaghetti and laughed as she was forced to slurp a noodle up, spearing another bite of her steak and holding it up to him as she chewed. He didn't put up a fight this time, merely sneering half-heartedly before opening his mouth again and spiraling another forkful of his own meal for her. They passed the food back and forth, and after a certain point they wound up just grabbing food from both plates, taking turns eating and feeding the other as they laughed and teased each other quietly.

It was a surreal shift from their usual routine, and she honestly loved it. Satan still had that far off, hidden look in his eyes he'd been having so much more often recently, but he wasn't upset or mad, it was a rare reprieve. She wished she could know what was going on in his head lately to make him seem so much more closed off from her, but she decided to enjoy the moment while she could. Things wouldn't be this fun for much longer, she wanted to take advantage of it.

The good mood continued until the plates were empty and most of the people around them had left, not that they really noticed or cared. It wasn't until their waitress returned with the bill that Natalie was even aware of the time. She laughed as she pulled out her wallet as Satan slipped out of the seat to go use the restroom, letting her pay for the bill and tip the waitress.

"He's a sweet guy after all, you're pretty lucky." The girl suddenly said, smiling as Natalie's head snapped up to look at her, caught off guard by the sudden comment.

"Um, excuse me?"

"Your boyfriend. He scared me when you two walked in, I mean he's a pretty intimidating looking guy, but I saw the way he was watching you and how cute he was being with you with the food and playing footsies under the table. He really likes you, you're lucky to have a guy that looks at you like that. Like he loves everything about you." She said dreamily, her smile soft and genuine instead of her polite, forced one. It threw Natalie for a loop, and all she could do was sit in shock as the girl picked up their plates and cups, still smiling that sweet, touched smile as she stood back up again.

"I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your date, you make such a great couple!" She turned just as Natalie finally got her wits about her, shaking her head as the girl left.

"But we aren't on a- …date…" her sentence died on the last word, almost as if she were afraid to say the word too loud. It wasn't a date. Was that how it looked to other people? Did they look like a couple? She'd never given their being together much thought, but now she was all too aware of how their actions could be construed to outside eyes. Holding hands and cuddling in the cold and sharing food in restaurants… But they were just having fun. Right? Satan certainly never seemed concerned with it, and he didn't bring it up either, so it wasn't like it was a bad thing. He didn't see their relationship as anything close to that, she knew that for a fact….

_'I saw the way he was watching you….' _Watching her… Watching her when? When they'd been eating and laughing? When she couldn't read his gaze, when he was so carefully guarding himself from her? He was…

"Are you ready to go?" She jumped in her seat, squeaking as she whirled around to see Satan standing behind her, looking at her with a confused expression. Her heart sunk into her gut and felt like lead.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Uh, nothing nothing, I'm ready if you are." She forced a grin on her face, grabbing her jacket and pocketing her wallet once more as he grabbed his coat, following her towards the door. As they left, she caught sight of the waitress, and the smile and wave sent their way made her feel all too numb. The walk home was just as quiet as the walk to the restaurant, but where it had been peaceful and quick the first time, it was uneasy and lasted all too long now. She could feel Satan's eyes on her, she knew he could see her sudden mood swing, but he wouldn't ask what was wrong, and she was more grateful than she wanted to be. When they got home she unlocked the door and hung up her jacket, already planning a B line for her room as she glanced at him over her shoulder.

"I'm going to go to bed, I'm tired; are you just going to sit out here and watch tv?"

"Probably, until your dad gets back."

"Alright, I'm going to go crash. Night."

"Hm." He grabbed the remote and dropped onto the couch without another word, and she scurried into her room, shutting the door tight and collapsing onto her bed. Her heart was hammering in her chest to the point that it was starting to hurt, and her arms and legs felt like lead.

Why was she freaking out like this? There was literally no reason for her to be so upset, it's not like she'd never had people mistake her friends for her significant others before. She'd been through this before a few time. There were people in the past that used to think Michael and she dated, as ridiculous as it had sounded then. Hell, even Michael himself had apparently asked Satan if they were together a few months back. It wasn't a rare occurrence. That was what happened when your best friend was a guy. So why were her hands shaking?

_"I saw the way he was watching you…"_

She shook her head as roughly as she could, sitting up and grabbing her pajamas to change. This was ridiculous. It was just a little mix up, a misunderstanding. And who cared if random people thought they were together? It didn't mean anything. It wasn't a bad thing.

Pulling her clothes on, she yanked the blankets down on her bed, reflexively reaching up and pulling her doll off the shelf before she froze, eyes locked with a miniature pair of Satan's.

_"I saw the way he was watching you…"_

Sinking down onto the bed, she held the puppet of himself he'd given her in her lap, staring at the immovable visage of her friend. He was always so guarded to her now. And she hated it. It almost hurt, knowing he was being so crass, so cruel to lock her out when she cared so much about him. She wanted to know what was going on with him. She wanted to know why he blocked her out when he never did before. She was going to figure it out eventually, one way or another. That was all there was to it.

Nodding to herself, she reached over and turned out the light, curling up and burrowing into the blankets. She held the doll up, stroking it's hair back and smoothing the unruly tangle in thought. She knew why she was so shaken from the waitress' words. She'd wanted to believe them. She wanted to believe that what she'd said about him caring about her was true. But that was what scared her the most. She didn't want to want that. She didn't want to feel a sudden thrill at the thoughts racing through her mind of him. It was stupid, that waitress had obviously been mistaken and she'd just let her imagination run wild. That was all.

Without giving it much thought, she brought the doll up and kissed it's cheek, hugging it tight to her chest and burying herself into the blankets, yawning deeply as she slowly fell asleep.

For a brief moment before she finally drifted off to sleep though, she wondered what it would be like to kiss the real thing. To kiss the Devil.

_"Like he loves everything about you…."_


	7. Domesticated Nights

He was twelve seconds away from blowing up the room in an inferno of flame and heat, and he didn't care in the least that the girl was in here as well. As a matter of fact, he was pretty sure he was going to be aiming for her first before anything else. It was her fault this was happening to begin with, and he was not going to lie down and take it, he caved to her whims enough as it was. This was crossing the final line.

"What in the hell made you think this was a good idea? Do you have any idea what you have done?" He crossed his hands to fight the urge to rip her sheets or break the things on her shelves, slouching in his seat on her bed.

"Will you knock it off with the melodrama? They asked me to do it and I agreed to help, it's not nearly as conspiratorial as you are making it seem."

"The hell it's not, why did you agree to this, you knew I'd hate it! There is no way I am letting this happen."

"You don't have a choice. So shut up and play nice, they'll be dropping off Ethan and Kaitlyn in a second."

"But I hate children. They're gross and loud and annoying and the little brats can't keep their grubby little paws to themselves no matter how much you yell at them, believe me I try."

"You can hide in my room if you're going to keep throwing a fit like a baby. It's only for a few hours so their parents can go downtown and back and then they'll be gone."

"What the fuck does your dad think of all this? Does he have any idea you are letting a couple of little gremlins into his house?"

"Dad loves Ethan and Kaitlyn, as a matter of fact, so get that hopeful look off your face. Not to mention he's really good friends with their parents, so he won't have any problem with letting me babysit them. I do it all the time actually." If he didn't have more self control and dignity, he would have whined. The doorbell going off interrupted them anyway, and she stared him down with a glare that would have made even a lower demon cringe. With a hateful growl and a gaze that warred with hers, he snapped his fingers and changed form, climbing off her bed. A small hand ramming into the center of his chest as he turned for the door stopped him, and his eyes shifted down to hers.

"Don't even try it, bud. "Stanley". _Now_. Dad thinks you're here studying and helping me, and not to mention if our neighbors saw a drug dealer in our house when they're dropping off their kids, things wouldn't exactly be easy to explain. Change." She ordered, the authority in her voice harsh and rare. He gnashed his teeth until his jaw ached, slapping her hand away from his chest roughly and feeling the sting in his own wrist where it landed. He pushed down the instinctual guilt, (it was barely a hit, who cared) and marched out her door, already changing and collapsing roughly onto the living room couch as she followed behind him, opening the door and coming up with an excuse for the delay. He didn't bother listening to the idle chit chat, he could already hear a little boy talking to someone, and he sounded particularly aggravating and bratty. Satan scrunched his eyes shut with a growl and laid down on his back, throwing a leg over the arm of the couch like a delinquent. The thought made him grin.

"Hey, who's the guy on your couch?" Shit. The scowl returned with force as he twisted his head around to look at the door, seeing five pairs of eyes on his, one of which was still skillfully masking rage. She gave him a look, silently telling him to sit correctly on the couch as a shaggy looking little boy with brown hair poked his head through the doorway to get a better look.

"That's Stan, he's going to help me babysit you guys. Go say hi, he doesn't bite." The undertone in her voice made him role his eyes, sitting up and twisting to sit upright as the boy, Ethan apparently, came scurrying over, eyes wide as he stared at the bigger boy, innocently oblivious to the hatred cast his way.

"Hi, I'm 6. How old are you?"

"Older than you."

"You don't look like it. You still look like a kid."

"That's not my choice, now is it?" He answered back dryly, propping his elbow on his knee and leaning his chin into it, watching the girl out of the corner of his eye with contempt. She was smiling and saying goodbye to the parents as she was handed a backpack, probably full of shit to keep the little freaks busy for a few hours.

"Why are you here?" The boy suddenly piped up again, and Satan cast his eye at the kid with a sneer.

"Because my life fucking sucks you little-" Without warning a hand slapped over his mouth, fingertips squeezing painfully into his cheeks, and he glared up to see Natalie with a toddler on her hip, the little girl blinking down at him as she clung to Natalie's shirt tightly.

"_Okaaay! _So it looks like you two are getting along swell. Ethan why don't you go ahead and help me with this bag while I go get something to drink for you and your sister, hm?" She smiled wide at Ethan as she took out two sippy cups and handed him the backpack, letting him scamper off with it. Shifting to maneuver the baby in her arms and set her on the floor to crawl around, she turned to Satan with a smile that screamed of suppressed anger, grabbing and pulling him forward by his collar as she turned towards the kitchen.

"Stan, why don't you come help me out real quick kay?" He reluctantly followed, pulling free and rubbing at his still-sore cheeks as she headed to the refrigerator to fill up the cups.

"What the hell's your problem?" She whirled on him with the juice container in her hand, face scrunched in annoyance.

"Shut up. I'm going to be watching them, so no cussing or yelling while they are here, they'll suck it up like a sponge." She filled the cups and put the juice away, screwing the caps on tight.

"Man, this blows…" He slumped, leaning into the counter reproachfully.

"Well don't go acting like that around them, children can smell fear." She elbowed him with a grin as she walked out the door, a sippy cup in each hand as he scowled after her, dragging his feet as he went back to his spot on the couch.

The only saving grace he had was that the Girl was actually really good with kids. She kept them both entertained and busy, letting them do as they pleased when they found something non-destructively fun to explore. She even sat on the floor and played with the games and toys in the backpack with Ethan and tried to coax Kaitlyn away from the couch and tables. Apparently the little thing was learning to walk, but she wasn't quite coordinated enough to not hold onto things while she slowly hobbled around, constantly looking around herself and watching everything, especially himself apparently.

"She's really taken a shine to you, you know." Natalie laughed, sitting in the middle of the floor and watching the baby stare up at Satan from her spot, standing at the corner of the couch and gripping the cushions. Satan grimaced, scooting further down the couch with an apprehensive eye watching the little tyke.

"I don't understand why they always get so interested in me, it's annoying."

"Must be the eyes. Or maybe they can sense something is off about you and they're curious. They always say children are more sensitive to supernatural things after all."

"Shut up, I'm not supernatur-….shit… I said _shut up."_ He raised his finger at her, face scrunching as she fought off a laugh. He glanced down the hallway where the other one had disappeared previously, saying he'd had to pee. Natalie's snickering brought his attention back.

"Oh come on it's funny. I wonder if she'd still be as interested in you if she knew what you actually looked like." He grinned wickedly up at her, a dangerous gleam in his eye as he brought his legs up and crossed them.

"Well there's one way to find out, I guess." Fear flashed across Natalie's face as she watched him lean forward, her hands flying up in a futile attempt to stop him.

"Sata-!" Too late, he forced his horns and fangs out, his tongue morphing and slithering out of his mouth as he hovered near the girl, hissing at her with a disturbingly wide grin made even worse with the mouthful of sharp teeth. Kaitlyn's eyes widened in shock but before any reaction could be had, a loud gasp from beside them jerked their attention away from the baby and towards Ethan, who'd finally emerged from the bathroom. They sat frozen between the two children, Natalie afraid to even breath as Satan slowly pulled his teeth back to normal, his horns still out. Natalie was about ready to have a heart attack, if the kids started screaming or crying they wouldn't be able to do anything, what would the parents think when-

"That's so _cool!_ Hey do it again I want to see it again! Are they real!?" Ethan came barreling across the room, flinging himself onto the couch and grabbing onto Satan as he prodded at his face in excitement, leaving Natalie shell shocked on the carpet. They'd actually dodged that catastrophic bullet. She had a feeling they'd just used the last of their good luck with this one. A high pitched giggle pierced the air and she looked over to see Kaitlyn laughing, bouncing in her spot by the couch.

"Get _OFF! _AHH!" She watched Satan struggle against Ethan, pushing the boy back as he grabbed at his face, still babbling away. He shoved roughly and deposited the boy on the end of the couch and jumped up, looming over the child as flames burst from his forehead with his horns, his hoodie and other clothes vanishing in place of all of his 6'2", tattooed, intimidating stature. Natalie finally jumped up, running over behind Satan and grabbing his arm to pull him back, afraid he was going too far.

"Whoa you're huge! Can I touch your horns? Where'd you get those tattoos? Are you like a superhero or something?" The questions piled on each other as he stood and jumped on the couch, excitedly grabbing at Satan's arms to see his tattoos and claws.

"Boy, I am the exact _opposite_ of a superhero, will you get off- just- hey stop that- nO- KNOCK IT OFF…! KID MAKE IT STOP ALREADY!" He grabbed Natalie by the arm, jerking her in front of himself as a barrier to deter the pint-sized barnacle trying to attach itself to his person. He gripped her shoulders and hid behind her as she silenced the boy, getting him to stop jumping on the couch and giving some made up excuse to who he was and why he looked the way he did. He didn't bother listening, merely glad he wasn't being attacked any longer.

He noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye and glanced down, seeing Kaitlyn still watching him, but this time she was smiling. Shit. He watched as Natalie coaxed Ethan to sit down again, sitting down next to him to keep them separated, an action he was immensely grateful for as he sank into the cushions beside her, drawing his legs up and crisscrossing them once more. Doing his best to drown out the boy to his right, he glanced back down to Kaitlyn, watching her maneuver her way around the edge of the couch towards them, eyes trained on the three of them. Suddenly, she let go of the couch, wobbling a bit on her feet as she stood, before taking a couple unsteady steps. His eyes widened he watched her, slapping Natalie's thigh with the back of his hand to get her attention. She looked up at him before following his line of sight and abruptly clapping in glee, squealing encouragement as the child shakily walked the short distance over to them.

Kaitlyn smiled at the praise, reaching up and grabbing at the air towards them, before she suddenly pitched forward, the uneven weight sending her tumbling and ready to hit the floor. Natalie cried out, but before she could try to react, Satan leaned forward and stuck an arm out, catching the baby and steadying her back on her feet carefully. Natalie sighed in relief, slumping against his side as she held a hand to her chest.

"Good catch. I think I just had a heart attack."

"Well why don't you repay me and get her off?"

"Huh?" She blinked, sitting back up straight to see Satan's arm encircled my Kaitlyn, the little girl holding on and not about to let go as she smiled up at them.

"Aaaw! I _told_ you she liked you! That's so _cuuute!"_

"Oh for fu-! Uugh, come on you little rugrat, let go of me. This is why I hate brats, what do you _want?_" He shook his arm, trying to dislodge her, but she held steadfast, forcing Natalie to stifle a laugh.

"She wants you to pick her up, she wants held."

"You're _kidding_ me…." The look in the little girls eyes said otherwise. He groaned loudly, hanging his head in exasperation as Natalie outright laughed, unable to contain her amusement any longer. Her giggling only increased as she saw the look on his face morph into uncomfortable chagrin as he looped his arm around Kaitlyn and turned her, grabbing her under the arms and lifting her up to sit on his lap. She squirmed on his legs, but he kept a firm hold to make sure she didn't start crawling on him or would fall backwards onto the floor. He leaned away from her grabby little hands as she reached for him, his shoulders stiff and his back ramrod straight. The look of pure distress on his face was priceless and completely adorable, and Natalie wished more than anything that she had a camera. He didn't have the first clue of what to do with a child and it blatantly showed. An evil idea hit her and she grinned wickedly.

"I just thought of something, I'll be right back you guys. Stan, you can handle them for a bit can't you?" She sang, hopping up from the catch and pointing at Satan, biting her cheek to not double over in laughter at the utter horror that morphed his face.

"What!? No you can't leave me here with them! Kid don't you dare- GIRL GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT OR I'LL SKIN YOU! DO YOU HEAR ME!?" He bellowed after her as she ran out of the room, quickly grabbing her phone and sneaking back, sneaking a quick picture as Ethan crowded him to ask more questions. She snorted, returning her phone to her room and wandering into the kitchen and over to the back cupboard. She pulled a chair over and climbed onto the counter, rummaging around on top of the cabinet until her hand hit a small box shoved into the farthest corner out of everyone's sight. She pulled the box of cookies down and jumped off the counter with a smile, proud that he hadn't managed to find them after all.

It was actually (unsurprisingly) harder than she had thought to hide sweets from him. She'd had many a trial and error over the months, but she may have finally found the one spot he didn't think to look, since it wasn't easy for her to get to. He would absolutely tear the house apart looking for anymore hidden goodies when he saw that she'd managed to ride under his radar though. It'd be interesting to watch considering there weren't anymore. She snickered as she hid the box behind her back and sauntered back into the living room, the sight still much the same as when she left but no less perfect in it's ridiculous outrageousness even as she saw the pure hatred and fiery rage burning at her from Satan.

"I. Am. Going. To. _KILL. YOU. _Start writing your will Girl, because you are dead by morning_."_ The sheer amount of promise and threatening animosity in his voice would have scared her many months ago, but now she only smiled and pulled the cookies out to show the kids.

"Well then I guess it's just the three of us enjoying these then, now isn't it?" Ethan cheered and jumped off the couch, running over to her as Satan's expression melted into betrayal and deceived confusion.

"You were _hiding_ those from me? You _were_ weren't you! What the heck, what else have you kept from me?"

"If I told you I'd have to rehide them now wouldn't I?" She lied, smiling as she sat on the floor, opening the small box and handing a cookie to Ethan and popping one in her mouth, grinning innocently at the fuming demon on her couch. He looked ready to open an all out verbal war, but she remembered that she'd forbade him from cussing and yelling while she was babysitting, and she felt a swell of satisfaction with herself. Suddenly the doorbell rang, snapping everyone's attention to the door. Natalie and Satan exchanged a look before she got up and walked to the door as he changed back, opening the door to see the children's parents smiling back at them. Satan nearly cheered. He stood up awkwardly with Kaitlyn as Ethan gathered everything and put it into the back pack, walking over to the door with the girl held carefully in his arms with as little contact as he could maintain.

"Someone _please_ take her." He groaned weakly, pulling his head out of her reach as she poked at where his horns should have been. Natalie laughed as the mother grabbed her with an apologetic smile.

"She likes you so much though, don't you want to say bye~?"

"I think I'm good thanks…." He felt a tug on his shorts and glanced down to see Ethan with cheeks full of cookie. The boy waved and smiled a chocolate-coated goodbye as he ran over to his father, who laughed.

"They seem to like you an awful lot actually, I don't suppose you'd be up for babysitting some other time…?"

"_No!" _He nearly shouted, scurrying halfway behind Natalie and earning a laugh from everyone else, causing him to scowl angrily. Natalie talked for a few minutes to the parents, rapping up basic things before they finally bid eachother goodbye and the family mercifully left. Satan clawed his fingers down his face in exasperation as she pushed the door shut, moaning in exaggerated pain.

"Don't you ever do that to me again, do you hear me? That was an absolute fucking _nightmare_."

"It wasn't that bad, and they loved you! I thought for sure you were going to scare them when you pulled out the teeth and claws and stuff."

"I don't know why I didn't, I don't understand why that _never works." _He whined, throwing his arms up feebly. She laughed, coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders, pressing her cheek against his with a grin.

"Well I still think you're big and bad when you can't even scare a couple of little kids~"

"Knock it off." He groused, twisting and elbowing her in a weak attempt to knock her off, giving up when it didn't deter her. He looked up when a thought crossed his mind, glaring back at her over his shoulder as he crossed his arms.

"You hid those cookies from me you bitch! Where were you keeping them, how the hell did you hide them from me? I didn't even get any, that nasty little urchin stuffed his face before he left!"

"Oh for the love of- I'll buy you a new box, all to yourself. Will that make you happy you giant manchild?"

"No. But it's a good start to paying me back for this bullshit."

"But you were so good with them, it was so cuuuute!"

"Shut up, I'm not cute!"

"Dude are you kidding? You're _so_ adorable, no matter what form you're in!" She giggled, ruffling his hair as he shouted, but she caught the tentative look on his face, like he wasnt' sure to believe her or not. She smiled gently and pulled him back into a real hug, holding him tight with his back against her chest as she squeezed his shoulder.

"And even though I know you completely hated it, I still appreciate the help, Mr. Big Bad Devil~" She didn't think about it. She should have. She should have realized what a horrible, terrible idea it was before she went through with it. She should have stopped and let go of him and left or something. Hell, she shouldn't have even thought about doing it. She didn't. She didn't have the slightest hesitance in what she was doing, so she didn't think of repercussions until after she'd already pressed her lips to his cheek and given him a warm, long kiss.

She didn't pay it any mind until she felt him go completely still in her arms, stiff and hard. It even felt like he'd stopped breathing. She pulled back, curious and a little worried before the reality of what she'd done hit her like a brick to the chest. She stammered weakly, the air and words in her throat, but what could she even say? She slid her arms from around him and stepped back, her body cold where it had been pressed against his. He didn't look at her, didn't say a word, his shoulders tense and up, his back achingly unmoving. She felt a dull pain in her hands and saw he was clenching his fists, the knuckles already turning white at the pressure.

"S-Satan, I-I-" A loud ring pierced the awkward silence, making Natalie jump. She darted her gaze between the kitchen and Satan's back, swallowing thickly and forcing herself to walk quickly to the other room. Her legs felt like lead and jelly all at once, and she had to force herself to keep her balance. Her stomach hurt from the nerves and her arms were too heavy as she grabbed the phone off the receiver.

"H-hello?"

"Hey Pumpkin! Just called to check and see how you and Stanley were doing! Are you done babysitting yet?"

"Oh, Dad! Heh, yeah um, we're done babysitting, they just left actually…"

She talked on the phone for a while, drawing it out as long as she could, scared to end the blessed phone call that had saved her neck. She could still feel the ache in the palms of her hands, and for a split moment, it felt like needles pierced the skin and she had to bite her lip to not whimper at the pain. It stopped almost immediately though, and she chalked it up to Satan accidentally digging his claws into his hands. She felt so bad. She felt upset and guilty and embarrassed and nearly disgusted with herself.

She also felt hurt. Hurt that he hadn't said anything, that he wouldn't look at her, that he just froze up. Why hadn't he yelled at her? Gotten angry? She could have taken his rage. She could have dealt with his disgust. She knew how to deal with his anger. She didn't know what to do when he blocked her out, when he wouldn't talk or look at her. When he made her feel like she'd pushed things too far, cared too strongly, wanted too much. Like she'd made a fool out of herself. And it made her feel cold and cut off and alone.

She hung up the phone quietly after saying goodbye to her dad, afraid to walk back into the living room. What if he was still in there? What if he wasn't? She didnt' know which she wanted more, which she wanted less. In the end, he wasn't there. He'd probably snuck back to her room, and she was too scared to face him now. She curled up on the couch and grabbed the remote, turning the tv on to drown away the deafening, guilt ridden silence.

The worst part, was that she hadn't stopped right away. She'd only pulled away when he had gone rigid, when he hadn't reacted. What if he had? Did she want him to? She knew she did, deep down. She didnt want to think about it, about what would have happened if he'd turned towards her while she was still kissing him. It made her stomach clench and her head pound.

She didn't care. She just hoped he wouldn't ignore her too long. She didn't want him to hate her for a slip like that. She didn't want him to hate the little kiss.

She wondered if it would be for the best if they pretended it didn't happen.

She wondered what would happen if they didn't.


	8. Charity Nights

The call was something she hadn't expected, but she wasn't one to leave a friend hanging when they needed help. Especially a close friend. The chime of her ringtone filled her room as she sat at her vanity, drawing her eyes down to the little screen. Noticing the picture she grinned and picked up the phone, clicking the answer key.

"Sorry, we're fresh out of Natalie at the moment, mind if I take a message?"

"Hey Nat!"

"Hey Naira! How's your Saturday going?"

"Actually that's why I'm calling you. Remember how I told you I'd be working by myself today? I'm insanely swamped, do you think you could come help me out?"

"Now? Uh, Stan is here, we were hanging out."

"Bring him, I could use the extra set of extra hands. _Pleeeeeasse?"_

"Ummm…. Oh okay, I'm sure I can convince him somehow, we'll be there in half an hour!"

"Natalie you are the _best_ I swear, thank you so much!"

"No problemo!" She sang, hitting the end call button and setting her phone back down, reaching for her brush and pulling her hair up into it's usual bun. She bit her lip, her hands sinking to the tabletop as her eyes wandered up to the familiar silhouette on her shelf, blank little eyes staring back as her gut twisted. The little satanic doll held no judgement towards her, but she still felt it like a dagger in her back.

In the end, they'd unofficially opted to ignore what happened a week ago. He'd mainly evaded her the rest of the day until it was time for her to go to bed, and she'd apologized; or at least, had tried to. He'd brushed it off and let it be, and she'd gone to bed, and they hadn't brought it up since. Even despite that, she still felt it weight on her shoulders, and she had no idea what Satan felt on it either.

Sighing to herself, she stood up and pulled her gymshoes out from under her bed and tied them on. Walking out her bedroom door she made her way into the living room where he was watching tv with her dad, sitting on the floor in front of the couch as "Stanley".

"Hey Stan, get your shoes on, we're going out!"

"Wait, what? Why?"

"Naira called me, she needs help, so we have another charity case to tend to today."

_"Why the heck do I have to go?"_

"She wants the extra hands and I offered you up."

As expected, his face twisted into a look of resentment as he glared up at her from the carpet. Mr. McAllister chuckled, leaning forward and patting the boy's shoulder sympathetically.

"What will you two be doing? Where is she?"

"She volunteers at the local library, she does anything that has to deal with ordering and putting away the books. Usually she's not alone, but the other people that work with her aren't coming in today and she needs help-" Suddenly Satan was a blur as he shot up off the floor, grabbing his shoes by the door and yanking them on, making Alex laugh. Natalie only blinked in surprise.

"I think you said the magic key-word sweetie."

"Apparently… I'm going to have to remember that one." She muttered, earning a wink from her father as Satan stood by the door, tapping his foot irritably.

"Come on, I thought you wanted to go."

"Alright alright, jeez, let's go. Bye Dad!"

"Bye sweetie, stay safe you two!"

"Will do, bye Mr. M."

Natalie hopped down the steps as he pulled the door shut behind them, heading quickly down the sidewalk and out of sight of the house before he changed into his preferred, older form. Natalie glanced at him disapprovingly.

"I really wish you wouldn't do that in public, someone is going to see one day."

"It's never a big deal, it's happened plenty over the centuries."

"Well yeah, but not while you're with me. That'd be hard to explain to a neighbor. It's bad enough people already think you look like a drug dealer."

"It's not only that I 'look' like one, Kid. I'm just stuck being _good_ while Im with you." He snarked easily, matching her footsteps as they walked. Natalie's face lit up in realization.

"Wait, _you actually sell drugs?"_ She screeched to a halt, gawking at him as he turned to glance at her, cocking an eyebrow.

"You actually thought I_ didn't?_ I'm the King of Vice, sweetheart. I have the title for a reason."

"Oh my _god!"_

"Oh _calm down,_ you are such a fucking_ goody-goody, _I swear it makes me sick. I haven't sold anything, or even _had_ anything to sell since I've been stuck with you. You're reputation is clean." He rolled his eyes, walking ahead of her as she sputtered before shaking her head and running after him, glancing up at him with new-found curiosity that she didn't know how to express.

"Do you, uh I mean, so have you ever, like…um…"

"Done them?"

"Yeah…."

"Kid I've done every drug known to man, and several _not_-so-known."

"Jesus. Have you ever been addicted?"

"Technically, but not in the stupid way you flimsy little meatsacks get. When a human becomes addicted to something, they lose all sense of preservation, no control, all they care about is the next time they can smoke or snort or shoot up whatever the fuck they can't get enough of. Those are all mortal reactions, they don't apply to me or other demons. Its just fun for us." He flashed her a cocky smile as she pouted disapprovingly up at him, crossing her arms.

"Are you like, a secret drug lord or something?"

"No, I leave that up to my followers. I just delve into it myself on occasion to fuck up a few lives. I hear a lot of them are doing pretty good in Cambodia though…"

"Oh my god." She groaned, shaking her head and raising a hand to her throbbing temple.

"You _swear_ you don't have anything on you? _At all?"_

"I'm squeaky clean, Kid, I promise." He turned as they walked, dramatically pulling his jacket open to show he wasn't carrying anything, still grinning. She gave him an unbelieving glare but let it pass, and he turned back around, continuing to walk beside her as they made their way through the crosswalk. The library loomed above them, stony and clichély quiet as they walked inside passed a middle-aged woman at the front desk. He caught the stare sent his way and smirked.

Natalie quickly found Naira among the shelves and they made their way to an employee to explain that she was going to help volunteer for the day as Satan slipped into the labyrinth of isles, already perusing the titles in interest. Natalie shrugged and let him wander, he'd likely bury himself in a pile of books somewhere and stay out of trouble, which would make it easier on her. Naira just smiled as he spared a wave and disappeared out of sight behind the shelves.

"We won't be seeing him for while, will we?"

"Nope."

"I hope he has a good sense of direction, he'll wind up lost in the books."

"I think he'd prefer that fate at this point." She laughed, following the other girl to sort the piles of returned books. They chatted and gossiped as they arranged the books and piled them on a cart to take them to the shelves. It was a tedious, repetitive task to be sure. Sorting and filing the books before taking them out to the shelves and putting them in their places, but it was enjoyable. A few hours passed and they jokingly began a game of "Spot the Stan" as they made their way around the large library. He was in different spots each time: standing against a wall, sitting at a table, perched up on a ladder, he was never in the same spot twice. He never had the same book either.

"That has to be at least the seventh book I've seen you with. Natalie, get a load of this guy." Naira said in awe as he walked over to the pair, nose buried into a new, thick novel.

"Oh trust me I know, I think the books at my house have finger marks from him at this point. He's a total bookworm."

"Have you actually finished all of those or did you just lose interest?"

"I finished them, the last one pissed me off actually. What the hell kind of ending was that, the author couldn't have actually put a little effort into it?" He muttered to himself, turning a page as he walked away, ignoring the giggling that followed after him. He was enjoying the situation too much to really care, he was going to eat this up as much as he could. It had been too long since he'd had new reading material. Even longer since he'd been in a library for that matter. He didn't really frequent them as often as he should, for all he enjoyed them.

He sighed as he stopped and leaned against the closest bookshelf, finding he'd looped back to the front of the library once again. Movement ahead caught his eye, and glancing up he saw the woman at the front desk watching him again. She'd been doing its since they had gotten there hours before, and it was beginning to tick him off. The nasty expression on her face didn't help his annoyance, and he snapped his book shut irritably, turning and striding behind the bookshelf out of her sight. He stopped after a few steps and moved the books on a shelf, leaving a small window to see what she was doing. Sure enough, the moment she believed he was out of sight, she turned back to her actual job. He scoffed, shoving his spare hand into his pocket and turning away, making his way back to the girls in the back of the large building. They were putting books back on the shelves, Naira handing them to Natalie, who was perched high on a ladder, nodding slightly when they waved as he approached.

"If you fall off there like an idiot I am _not_ going to catch you. You won't learn to not be a klutz if I keep doing that." He griped, walking up and leaning against the ladder, propping a foot on the bottom rung. She scowled down at him, raising a book as if she were to drop it on his head, but Naira glared halfheartedly at her, and she feigned reluctance as she put it on the shelf. Naira shook her head with a grin as she turned away, going back to the cart and sorting. Natalie hunched on the ladder, lowering her head to talk to him, her voice hushed so her friend couldn't hear.

"What's with that look? I actually figured you'd be happier here. What's biting your tail?" He glanced up with a scowl before tilting his head to speak quietly back, fingers tapping silently on the book in his crossed arms.

"Ordinarily, you would actually be right, but I get the feeling we should be leaving soon unless you want not only the school, but the entire _town_ to think you are hanging with a drug dealer after all. That decrepit bitch at the front desk has been watching me for hours now, she probably thinks I'm selling or some shit. Considering I walked in with _you_, that's not such good news." She startled, glancing over at Naira and leaning farther off the ladder, whispering angrily.

"Are you serious? I am so done with everyone judging from looks alone, that is so not fair."

"As much as I 'appreciate' your defending of the Devil, they aren't actually wrong, you know."

"That's beside the point." She waved her hand dismissively, her lips twisting into a moue of discontent as he rolled his eyes. She sighed, gesturing for him to hand her more of the books to be put away as she thought. She took them out of his hands and slid a few into place before she spoke once more.

"I guess we can leave now. It wouldn't be good to press our luck, we don't exactly have a lot of it to spare between the two of us…." She twisted on the ladder, dusting her hands and carefully climbing down the ladder as he held it steady, getting the other girl's attention.

"Naira we have to go, something's come up. Do you think you can handle the rest by yourself?"

"Yeah, it'll be easy from now on, if you have to go I can handle the rest on my own. Thanks for the help!"

"No problem, we'll be glad to do it again if you want!" She smiled, diligently ignoring the dangerous vibes Satan emitted behind her. Naira only laughed hesitantly before a thought hit her and she blinked, drawing Natalie's attention once more as she pointed to him.

"Oh hey, did you finish that? Or did you want to take it? You can keep them as long as you like if you want to borrow a few to take with you." Satan blinked and looked at the book before glancing his eye to Natalie as she gasped, pulling out her wallet and her library card out.

"Oh my gosh you're right! I forgot I was going to get him a few while we were here! He doesn't have a card. What do you say Stan, do you have anything you want to take with us?" She asked, turning to him as she held up her card, reaching out a hand to take the book he was still holding. He only blinked for a moment, taken aback as he silently handed the book over to the grinning girl.

"Yeah I guess, if your willing to get them."

"Well then let's go. Sorry again Naira, see you at school Monday!"

"It's fine, thanks for the help Nat! Bye guys!" She waved as they walked back towards the front of the building, stopping to look at a few shelves and grab a couple books before heading to the front desk, each with no less than 3 books in their arms. The woman glanced up as one pile of books was sat down carefully and the other was dropped unceremoniously, making a loud crash resound throughout the quiet space. Natalie stomped on his foot as she smiled in apology, silently handing her card over to the woman as she noticed the look sent his way.

He'd been right, she was watching him hard, the look on her face far from polite and accepting. Judgmental to the highest degree was a more appropriate description, and it twisted Natalie's smile into a cold glare. She didn't really know why it upset her so much. It wasn't like he actually cared. He _enjoyed_ it even. Ravished in the hatred, the disapproval. But she still didn't like it. Why should he get such a reaction when she was right there?

"Will that be all for you today?" The woman suddenly asked, her voice clipped and filled with contempt as she passed the card stiffly back to Natalie. She bit the inside of her cheek as she put it back in her pocket and they gathered the books.

"Yes, aside from one thing." She waited until the woman cast her beady little eyes back to them, flashing her the most intimidating, fed up smile she could muster.

"I really think you should concentrate on doing your actual job instead of obsessively watching the people that walk in, especially when it's obvious that you have no right to be judging others based simply on the way they look." She shrugged, grabbing Satan's hand and pulling him behind her, flippantly tossing a "have a nice day!" over her shoulder as they left. They had barely made it out the door before Satan erupted in laughter, leaving Natalie to seethe on the sidewalk. He howled in glee as he pulled on her hand, bringing her to a stop and letting go to pat her head, smiling wide.

"Holy shit, that is possibly the best thing I've ever seen you do haha! Her face was fucking _priceless!"_ She only huffed,letting him enjoy her short-lived animosity, pushing down the little instinctual guilt wanting to rise. Sighing she raised her hand and rubbed at her head, feeling a headache threatening her mind. Satan's laughter dwindled to quiet chuckling as his hand slipped down her head, encircling the back of her neck and ushering her forward down the sidewalk and back home.

"Well done, Girl, _that_ is easily worth being forced to come down here. The books aren't a bad prize either." He shuffled said books slung under his other arms, getting a solid grip so they wouldn't fall as he held her with the other. She maneuvered her own in the same way, raising her hand into the air in a silent question. He let go and grasped her hand easily, both of them knotting their fingers together as they walked in silence, small chuckles still emitting from Satan now and then.

"…Im going to have to go to a different library from now on."

He cracked up laughing again, causing her to join him. They laughed all the way home, sparing a moment at the corner for him to change back into his freshman form before heading back into the house. They greeted her father as they walked in, both collapsing onto the soft carpet with their hoard of reading material, letting them fall where they may.

"Ugh, we need to plan a little better next time. Carrying home so many books in your arms is not a good plan…"

"You play softball, shouldn't you have more arm strength than that?"

"Shut up, it's not the same thing."

"Yeah, sure it's not."

"It's not!"

"Children, children, alright! Dinner will be ready in about an hour, why don't you pick all those books up and find something to do until then?"

"Alright, come on Stan let's go put these up." Natalie said, picking up her portion of the cluster once more and heading to her room, Satan on her heels with his own portion. She dropped them on her desk and grabbed one of them as he pushed the door shut and sat on her bed, already shifted back to normal as he stretched his arms above his head. He grabbed the one he'd been reading before as she slipped her shoes off, stretching out on the mattress in comfort as he cracked it open again. The sudden weight of an eighteen year old girl landing splayed across his lap was not something he expected.

"Aug- What do you think you are _doing!? Get the fuck OFF!" _

"No way, you're on _my_ bed dude. I'll lay on it if i want, whether you are in the way or not." She said proudly, opening her own book as she squirmed to get as comfortable as she could laid across his lap, idly crossing her ankles in the air. He fumed, pushing against her and smacking her shoulder with his own book, but she just laughed, rolling back to her spot when he tried to knock her off.

"You could just get off the bed and sit in the chair if you want away from me you know. I'm not budging."

"…" He growled deep in his throat, noting the challenging gleam in her eye, and fell silent with a repressed sigh. Was he really fighting a teenage girl like this? Yes, apparently. She was just that capable of getting under his skin. It was aggravating beyond imagination.

He slouched back into the pillows, shifting the little he could under her weight and going back to his book. She just smiled and propped her head in her chin, starting her own and enjoying the comfortable spot as he ignored her to the best of his ability. She apparently wanted none of that.

"Oh hey, rub my back!"

_"What?"_

"Yeah, come on! It's the perfect spot, do it!"

"That is a _terrible_ idea. No."

"Aww, come on, do it! Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"How is that supposed to make me change my mind?"

"Pretty please with sugar on top?"

"All the sugar in the world wouldn't be enough, you little brat."

"Pretty please with sugar and a cherry on-" He slapped his hand over her face, glaring daggers down at her.

"_Why_ would I do that?"

"Because I want you to?" Came her muffled reply.

"That was a rhetorical question, Kid."

"Still the right answer though." she said, and even with his hand smashing her features, he could still hear the smugness in her voice. She just smiled under his palm, swaying her legs idly in wait.

"I could just order you to you know. That'd be less nice though." His glare only sharpened.

None the less, his hand fell from her face, raising up to hit her upside the head before landing on her shoulder blades. She groaned, rubbing the new sore spot on her head as he turned back to his book, diligently ignoring her once more, even as his hand soothingly rubbed circles into her back. She smiled up at him before turning back to her own book, crossing her arms and nestling her head into the niche as she relaxed against him, letting the time tick by in silence.

After a while she finally gave up reading the book, instead closing her eyes and laying her head down. She was completely content to enjoy the soothing way his hand glided up and down the expanse of her back, no rhyme or rhythm to the movements, just light and methodical. Her shirt rode up her sides a bit, and his fingers brushed against her skin, the contrast of warmth rising goosebumps and making her sigh. Hearing her approval the fingers ventured higher under the hem of her shirt, knife-sharp claw tips tapping gently at the skin and drawing illegible lines that almost made her want to fall asleep.

All too soon for her, a shout came from the kitchen, snapping their attention to the door.

"Hey guys, dinners just about ready, come help me set the table!"

"Coming Dad!" She shouted back, making Satan cringe away.

"You are _right_ in my damn ear, give a guy some warning before you bust my eardrum."

"Oh sorry haha! Come on, we better go." She said, climbing off the bed and stretching tight in pleasure as he switched forms once more.

"Hmmm! Thanks, that felt good! I should give you one later after dinner." She opened the door and walked out, Satan gawking after her as he followed.

"Yeah no, I don't think so, I'm good on that."

"What? Aw come on, a nice massage will do you good! You could definitely use one dude, you are waaaay too high strung."

"I don't want any part of that, I'll skip it thanks." She pouted back at him before busting into a smile, making him look at her in annoyance. She only laughed.

"I'll give you a backrub some other time than, I'll remember I owe you one."

"No, I disapprove. No means no. No Me Gusta. Do not want. Are you even listening to me?"

"Nope."

"What the actual fuck." He cussed under his breath, walking into the kitchen where her father was finishing dinner. He sighed as she nudged him with her elbow as they set to work on the table, thinking of how soft her skin had been. Maybe a back massage wouldn't be a bad idea, but he sure as hell wasn't going to accept right now. It would only end badly. She'd wind up doing it anyway whether he wanted her to or not, so his words had zero meaning to begin with. Instead he looked forward to returning to his book and finishing it as they all sat down to eat. His mind drifted now and then to the thought of how it would feel to have her hands at his stiff shoulders and neck or perhaps her sitting on his back, but he pushed each one of them down without remorse.

He was trying to keep such things out of his head. He'd hoped it would get easier, but she was only making it harder and harder, to the point that it was all but an impossible task. The moment that she'd kissed his cheek a week prior had all but nearly broken the dam, and he was ashamed to admit it. He'd broken the skin of his palms with how forcefully he'd had to control himself, to keep himself from doing something irreversible. It had only been a kiss on the _cheek_. But the want, the _need_ to kiss her back had been all consuming. He had more control than this. He had more reserve. He had more mentality. And yet he had no clue how to proceed without ruining himself.

"Stanley are you okay? You're awfully quiet?"

"Huh? Oh yeah sorry, I'm just thinking."

"Oh, probably about one of those books huh? Natalie said you were into one of them at the library haha!"

"Yeah, I haven't finished that one yet…" He feigned listening as the old man chattered away, pushing his food around on his plate.

He'd lost his appetite…

...At least for the food.


	9. Troubled Nights

"Okay, so then I just multiply these and add them over here to…. wait no, that's not right. Hmm… Should I divide them..? Wait let me try that again…."

The crinkling of paper filled the air again as Natalie crumbled the sheet in her hands, tossing it aside to join the rest in an accumulating pile off failed attempts at her homework. Thick textbooks were scattered about, opened to different parts and making a barrier between herself and Satan, who sat across the table from herself as older "Stan". He glanced at her over the top of his book, cocking an eyebrow as she puffed out her cheeks, leaning forward to stare at the pages of the textbook in front of her. He rolled his eyes, turning the page and turning back to reading, shifting his legs where he had them propped up on the corner of the table, crossed at the ankles. He heard rustling as she pulled her notebook closer, scribbling down the problem once more and tapping her pencil against the table as she read it over and over in her head.

"How long are you going to keep working on that same fucking problem? Just work on something else."

"Shut up, and don't cuss so loud, the teachers will hear you."

"It's not my fault we're stuck at your school after hours. _You_ were the one that decided to stay and work in the library when we could have just gone home."

"Well we can't exactly go to the _local_ library now can we?"

"Hey, _that_ wasn't my fault either. I didn't tell you to run your mouth at that old hag, as funny as that was."

"Ugh don't remind me about that…."

He just smirked, snapping his book shut and leaning forward to glance at her homework.

"I'll reiterate my previous question. How long are you going to keep working on that same 'damn' problem?" She glowered up at him, the switching of one cuss word for another not as amusing to her as it was to him. His smirk only grew.

"It's calculus, it's harder than you think. It's got a crappy reputation for a reason. I'm starting to wonder if you had a hand in creating this stuff…." She joked, sarcastically raising an eyebrow and narrowing her eyes at him. He whistled innocently, fighting a grin as he played along and avoided her gaze.

"Well I can't say if I did or didn't, but I _can_ say that it's not as bad as you claim. It just takes a little practice to understand."

"Bullcrap. You're talking through your teeth."

"I'm not lying. This time at least. I may not know all of whatever the hell you kids are learning these days, but give me credit where credit is due Kid."

"Oh yeah mister bigshot? Why don't you help me then?" She grinned cockily, waving a hand over the battlezone of paper and textbooks. He visibly stiffened, leaning back away from her homework.

"Oh no, you've had me do your homework enough times already, no fucking way."

"You're just still sore about sucking at history."

_"I fucking lived it!"_

"Sure didn't seem like it dude."

"I'm not touching this shit, you're on your own."

"Oh come on! We're supposed to be acting like we're studying anyway!"

"_You_ are supposed to be tutoring _me_, remember? I'm not doing this."

"I order you to help me with my homework!"

_"You fucking little–!"_

"Ah ah ah! Lower your voice!" She hissed, pointing an accusatory finger at him and eying the room quickly, glancing for teachers. She turned her glare on him as she heard the loud, offensive scrape of the chair legs dragging across the floor as he pushed himself away from the table. His legs dropped from the abused surface as he tossed his book aside, angrily scowling at her as he turned to sit upright, reaching an open hand out towards her, fingers gesturing in the air. She blinked at him, confused, before she realized what he wanted and hurriedly grabbed her notebook, handing the pad over to him with a smile. His eyes only narrowed further as he yanked it roughly out of her grip and looked over the paper, and she bit her lip against a laugh. It had been a long time since she'd had to actually order him to do something instead of insinuating and letting him just carry it out. And she could tell he'd just realized it now too. He wasn't pleased and it made her grin.

He turned his anger towards her papers, reading over the problems she'd written and the few attempts she'd made to solve them as she fidgeted in her seat, tapping her pencil.

"Okay, even you aren't this much of an idiot."

"That's seriously the first thing you have to say?"

"Well I'm not going to fucking compliment you. This is the easiest shit I've seen you stressing over in a while."

"Ugh shut up."

"You want my help or not?"

"Not if you're going to be an asshole."

"Welp looks like I'm not helping after all, yay for me." He said, dropping the notebook back onto the table top, making her pout.

"Do you actually plan on helping me or making fun of me?"

"That's a pretty good question."

"Ugh, I can never get a straight answer out of you. Cryptic jackass…" She groaned, rubbing her face with her palms. He smirked and grabbed her textbook, glancing over the other problems in the section she had to do. They were at least similar, thank his luck. They really weren't all too difficult, whatever problem she was having solving them most likely wasn't actually her own fault. Probably her shit-for-brains teacher not doing their job correctly. A little nudge in the right direction should get her back on track easy enough.

But then again, nothing with her was _ever _easy. Especially when he thought it would be. He usually ended up jinxing his own ass. Oh well, may as well get it over with… Reaching over and taking her pencil out of her hand, he scrawled one of the problems down on a blank part of the paper, twisting the pad around and smacking the pencil down on top.

"Show me how far you can get before you get lost. I need to see where you're screwing up and making it unsolvable."

She blinked up at him, glancing between him and the paper before obediently taking the pencil, pulling the paper forward and scribbling over his own writing. He eyes darted over the paper, following her marks and train of thought as she worked through the problem. After a few moments, her writing slowed more and more, until finally she stopped all together. Tapping her pencil, she chewed her lip, reading over the numbers again and again before she sighed, smacking the pencil down as well.

"I quit."

"Already?"

"Yes. Where did I mess up?"

"Right at the start. I was right that it was your stupid fucking teacher's fault. Here." He reached over and took the pencil once more, pulling the tablet forward and rewriting the formula and tapping the numbers.

"For one thing you mixed up the functions. You need to do this." Scratching out the correct procedures, he worked through the problem in record time, tapping on different steps to stress them. She watched carefully, nodding along as he explained each one, reaching over to her supplies and pulling out her own pencil without taking her eye off the paper as he worked. She followed along and took notes on an extra sheet of paper as he scribbled down more problems, solving them and leaving the answers for her to rewrite herself later on. His own sharp, jagged scripture was a hard contrast to her own clean, soft cursive.

"Man you are way better at this than my teacher."

"I've been around longer than your teacher. Add to the fact that I've been stuck with you for never ending months on end and I unfortunately know how your little mind works, it's easy for me to teach you shit like this."

"You'd make a pretty good tutor."

"Don't even try it, no way in Hell."

"Too late, I think I've got this now actually." She chirped, smiling in pride as she looked at the book again, reaching between them to the notepad and scrawling it next to his writing. A few moments later and Satan suddenly leaned back, dropping the pencil onto the table top and reaching for his own book once more, the slightest hint of a smirk curling his lip in satisfaction as he watched her solve the problem on her own and bounce in delight.

"How did you get stuck with calculus anyway?"

"It was either this or taking a foreign language class, and I didn't want to do that."

"Why not?"

"I honestly don't know anymore. I wonder if I could have just had you help me if I had trouble with that too. Do you even know anything besides English though?"

"English isn't even my first language Kid." He scoffed offhandedly, flipping his book open once more as her head snapped up, gawking at him in surprise.

"Wait, what? Really? Do you know anything they teach in school? What about French?"

"_Qu'en est-il?_" (What about it?) Satan queried, glancing up at her from his page with an eyebrow raised. She blinked, staring at him in silence before she grinned.

"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What about it?"

"So you really do know it?"

"Of course I know it. I know all languages Kid, past and present. Don't ask dumb questions."

"Oh my god! Say something in french!"

"No, I'm not going to prostrate myself for your childish amusement."

"Oh come on, I don't know any french! Just say something, I don't really care what."

His head shot up at her words, expression blank as he sat in his seat, gears spinning in his head. Slowly, he turned back to face her in silence before a grin suddenly split his face, stretching wide in glee as he snapped his book closed once more.

_"Vous êtes extrêmement ennuyeux, et les mois que je suis passé d'être coincé autour de vous me avez conduit au bord de ma santé mentale d'innombrables fois."_  
(You are extremely annoying, and the months that I've spent being stuck around you have driven me to the brink of my sanity countless times.)

Natalie's eyes widened before narrowing in suspicion, cocking her head to the side in apprehension at his sudden unexpected enthusiasm. "What?"

_"Parfois je me demande si je veux même cette torture sur Michael, qui vivent avec vous est vraiment l'une des pires choses que je ai vécu jusqu'à maintenant."  
(_Sometimes I wonder if I'd even wish this torture on Michael, living with you is truly one of the worst things I've experienced until now.)

"Why are you grinning like that?"

_"Parce que je l'ai enfin trouvé un moyen de revenir à vous pour toutes les conneries que vous soumettez à moi."  
_(Because I've finally found a way to get back at you for all the bullshit you submit me to.)

"Okay I think this was a bad idea."

_"Ceci est en fait tellement plus amusant que ce qu'elle devrait être autorisée."  
_(This is actually so much more fun than it should be allowed.)

"I feel like you're insulting me…"

_"En effet, je suis, vous dirigez l'air impulsif sale gosse."_  
(Indeed I am, you air headed impulsive little brat.)

"Okay, I _know_ that one was an insult."

_"Hey, vous pouvez réellement utiliser votre cerveau, qui l'eût cru?"  
_(Hey, you can actually use your brain, who'd have thought?)

"Okay okay, so you can speak french. What about other languages?"

"I just said 'all languages' Girl."

"Do you know German?"

_"Natürlich. Deutsch macht Spaß, um ehrlich zu sein."_  
(Of course. German is fun, to be honest.)

"Oh cool! What about Italian?"

_"E 'più facile che tedesco."_  
(That's easier than German.)

"Any Spanish?"

_""Tú sabes que no me lo estás poniendo difícil, verdad?"_  
(You do know you aren't making it difficult for me, right?)

"Okay try Polish."

_"Mogę powiedzieć coś mi się podoba w tej chwili i to nie zmieni."_  
(I can say anything I like right now and it would make no difference.)

"Swedish?

_"Denna tröja ser fruktansvärt, precis som alla andra tröjan du äger, och du måste bära ditt hår oftare."  
_(That sweater looks terrible, just like every other sweater you own, and you need to wear your hair down more often.)

"Latin!"

_"Oh, pro amore– et tu dicis: 'cliche'? Melius te velim."_  
(Oh, for the love of- can you say 'cliche'? I would have thought better of you.) He spat bitterly, a pout marring his expression that made her laugh. He slouched back into his seat, drawing his feet up to rest on the table once more. Pushing his chair back to balance on two legs, he rubbed at the bridge of his nose, fighting off a cloud of stress.

"Alright alright, that's enough. Finish your homework so we can finally leave." She only nodded, turning back to her work and silently resuming, pencil scratching over the paper as she made quick work of the rest of the assignment. He glanced out of the corner of his eye, feigning interest in his book as he watched her get the answers right until she was finally done. With a shout of delight that earned them a glare from a teacher, she filed away the notes she'd taken from watching him and copied his work and answers onto her own paper, putting it with the textbook and pushing it aside with a flourish.

"I'm finally done! We can go now!"

"About damn time." He grouched, sitting up and grabbing her other textbooks, stacking them for her to put in her backpack as she filed her papers and put them in a folder. She packed everything and turned, seeing he'd already started heading for the door, and with a huff she ran after him, waving to the teachers nearby as she followed him out the doors and out of the school.

The soft patter of cold rain on her head greeted her and she blinked up at the grey sky as Satan cussed loudly, stuffing his hands in his pockets in irritation as she hopped down the steps after him. It picked up as they walked, slowly at first, then coming down heavier and harder. Pulling her hoodie up against the rain as she looked up at the clouded skies, she kept step with Satan's fast pace as he skulked down the sidewalk, smiling as the patter of their feet in the shallow puddles mixed with the hush of the rain, filling the air. Raising her foot up, she slapped it down into a particularly large puddle, smile widening in glee and satisfaction at the sound. She stomped into another, then another and another until she was skipping ahead of Satan, hopping into the puddles and smiling as droplets sprayed around herself. She made sure to stay ahead of him, knowing he hated when she got him wet in the midst of her play, a light giggle erupting out of her throat as she bounced into a deep pool, rainwater splashing up the legs of her jeans.

Satan quietly followed behind, careful to keep the distance she allowed as she played in the puddles, watching her dance through the water without a care. His shoulders slackened a bit from their tense hunch against the rain as he watched her smile and laugh, instinctively relaxing as he watched her so happily having fun. A corner of his lip quirked as she turned and jumped right back into the puddle she'd just left, her smile incandescent as she twirled and skipped in the muddled water. She was enjoying herself with just the simplest things, it could almost be considered pathetic how easily she could be entertained.

But of course, that was just another part of her charm he'd unwittingly been ensnared in. It was endearing how she could be happy and content with just a few things. How her smile made him want to grin along with her without realizing it and how her joy could melt his stress and worry almost effortlessly, even if only for a passing moment.

A deafening crash above their heads halted both of them in their tracks, surprising them. Natalie's head shot up to look at the clouds as the thunder roiled above them, frozen in her spot on the sidewalk as the storm made itself known. Without giving it a thought Satan reflexively reached for her, grabbing her by her arm in a tight grip and pulling her under a tree for what little shelter it offered. He ignored the way she jumped at his touch – already so skittish, her chipper mood already ruined… – instead looking around the streets for a reprieve from the storm that had snuck up on them. The rain began coming down in sheets, wind picking up and blowing their jackets out around them with it's strength as people ran for shelter from the sudden outbreak. It didn't look like it was going to let up for a good moment, and there was no way they could, or rather, _should_ walk all the way home in such heavy weather. Natalie wrenched herself out of his grip, diving to wrap herself around his arm and hugging it tight as she followed his line of sight.

"…There's a movie theatre nearby, right around the block. Why don't we go there? We can watch something to pass the time until the storm is over." She offered, hiding the slight waver in her voice with finesse only gained through practice. Satan jolted, glancing down at her as she watched the road and rain, his mind racing. Memories of another movie night, weeks prior, flashed across his memory, stealing his train of thought, circling only around the moment he'd tried so hard to bury and forget. To pretend didn't happen. The moment he fought tooth and nail to suppress and ignore and to not repeat, because there was absolutely nothing to be gained from it. Nothing good would come of this, of any of it, of the two of them-

"Hey! Dude stop spacing out and ignoring me. I know public places aren't really your thing, but we need to get out of the rain." He blinked as Natalie waved her hand in front of his face, a small smirk on her blank and near unreadable face. But not entirely unreadable. He could see the twitching in her grin, the taught way she tried to play the thunder off, and the small fear in her eyes. Barely noticeable, but still there. They both knew she was afraid, but she still tried to play tough, didn't want to show she was scared. Another crack of thunder made her jump, and he sighed inwardly, pushing his thoughts to the back of his mind once more. Taking his arm back he placed it on her back, ushering her out from under the tree and letting her lead the way to the theatre.

They jogged down the wet sidewalk, rounding the corner at the crosswalk and filing through the doorway into the building, the smell of popcorn and buzz of chatter and people greeting them. Natalie sighed, noticeably relaxing as they got away from the loud storm, and Satan's shoulders slowly untensed in veiled relief. He followed her to the cash register, eyes flickering over the movie titles in disinterest as she picked the one to watch. He had no desire in seeing any of them, and the movie was for her. It didn't matter at all to him, so he stayed silent as she bought their tickets and a bucket of popcorn, as well as a pop and some candy, the last of which he spared a glance of gratitude for, earning a smile from her. She grabbed his hand as he pocketed the candy, balancing the bucket of popcorn in the other arm as he took the pop and tickets, pulling him passed the ticket usher who ripped the papers and pointed them to their theatre.

He scoffed as she immediately went to the back and into the middle, plopping down in the seat and throwing a few pieces of the popcorn in her mouth, smile returning as she looked over at him as he settled into his seat. He reached over and snagged a handful for himself, crossing his legs and glancing around the small room at the few other people there. There was barely anyone else in the theatre, a select few just as drenched in rainwater as they were, all scattered throughout the seats, leaving them partially secluded and alone in the back. Slumping into the cushioned chair as the lights dimmed and left the room dark, Satan felt his gut twist uncomfortably for reasons he couldn't place. He frowned and pulled the bag of candy out of his pocket, ripping it open to get at the sweets as the trailers rolled and the movie finally started.

It wasn't actually a bad film, even if it wasn't his preferred taste, but he couldn't have paid it any attention even if he'd wanted to. He was too acutely aware of the girl to his left, who'd suddenly decided around halfway through the movie to burrow herself into his side over the shared armrest between them, nudging his arm out of the way in her mission to get closer. He tried pushing her back into her own seat, but she only laughed, leaning back into him again each time, and with a growl he finally tossed his arm up onto the back of her chair, scowling in defeat as he reached over and grabbed a handful of popcorn. A muffled giggle ahead of them caught both their attentions, drawing their eye to the couple a few seats away. The young girl squirmed in her seat as her assumed boyfriend toyed with her, hand creeping up under her shirt as he tried to get his mouth on her neck, but she was apparently too ticklish.

Satan scoffed derisively, cocking an eyebrow as they started kissing. With a moment of deliberation, he brought his hand up, aiming carefully and flicking a piece of the popcorn at the pair, hitting the boy on the head, though he didn't seem to notice. Smirking, he tried again, hitting the girl this time, with the same result. He snickered as he shot three more over before Natalie suddenly shifted, moving to sink into her seat further. She glanced up as he looked at her questioningly, but she merely grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him down a bit, gesturing for him to sit lower as well as she took a handful of popcorn as well and aimed for the different couple to their left. Flicking her wrist she sent it flying and hit the man in the arm he had wrapped around his date. The man perked but turned back to the movie as Natalie grinned wickedly up at Satan, who caught onto her little game with an approving smirk.

Keeping low in their seats, they took turns hitting the other people in the theatre as they shared the pop and snacks, aiming especially for the oblivious teenagers still going at it down below. Natalie peeked over the seats in front of them, looking at the rest of the participants in the room before spotting someone at the front of the theatre.

"I bet I can hit baldy up there in the front." She whispered as she grinned cockily at Satan, who was eating away more of their provisional ammo. Leaning forward to follow her aim of sight, he scoffed.

"Ha, yeah right. There's no way you can hit him Kid, you're aim is atrocious. Especially considering you play softball."

"Oh yeah? You want to place a bet there Bub? Put your money where your mouth is Big Guy, show your stuff. "

"Is that right? Fine; you want to play Kiddo, then let's play. If you can hit him in one try, I'll…." He paused, mind cycling ideas before selecting something difficult in his cockiness and surety that she couldn't do it.

"I'll teach you french."

"French?"

"Yep. And when you fail, you're going to have to do something for me."

"Like what?"

"Don't worry about it, I'll think of something."

"I'm not going to release you from our contract."

"I didn't say that was what I'd want." He faltered as the sentence involuntarily slipped out, but she didn't notice, eyeing the would-be target once more.

"Hmph… Okay you know what, fine. I don't care what it is you want, because I'm going to win anyway."

"Yeah fuckin' right, no offense Kid but- Actually, yes. _Yes_ offense: You fucking suck at this hahaha!" He cackled, leaning back comfortably in his seat once more and tucking his arms behind his head. She growled back, fire sparking in her eyes as she shoved her hand into the popcorn bucket, grabbing a handful of pieces and pulling her arm back to whip them as far as she could at the poor man up front. Several of them bounced off his head and shoulders, making him turn around as Natalie shot down out of her seat, out of sight, leaving Satan shell shocked and alone in the man's sight, the only notable cause to blame. He managed to gather his wits after a moment, pegging the guy with a dangerous enough glare to make him turn back around in his seat instead of starting shit, before he turned his seething rage on the girl on the floor who was trying to stifle her laughter.

"You…!"

"Looks like I win, hahaha! Who sucks now, huh?"

"You bitch, you_ cheated!"_

"I don't recall you saying I couldn't. I hit him didn't I? You didn't even say how many I could throw, just that I only got "one try". Isn't that what you said? I'd think you'd be proud of me." She snickered as she pulled herself back into her seat and popped a piece of popcorn in her mouth, her tone filled with cheeky delight at her apparent cleverness. Satan fumed, face flushing in rage and embarrassment. She was right that he was proud of her for outwitting him, it was actually quite impressive in hindsight, but the anger of being outwitted to begin with was stronger.

"Looks like you owe me language classes dude. I'm going to enjoy this haha." Satan hissed under his breath and slouched back into the chair with an embittered expression, kicking himself for picking such an extreme leverage. He sat relatively quietly the last length of the movie – no, he most certainly did not brood, the Girl could _lie_ all she liked – and she pulled him out of the theatre and back into the wet streets. The storm had finally passed, leaving the sky darkened and debri scattered everywhere from the hectic winds. Natalie skipped down the sidewalk as she hummed happily, mood rejuvenated once more as Satan skulked after her. She slowed and grinned at him from over her shoulder before stopping completely, turning to face him and shoving her fists into her hips as she gave him a steadfast gaze.

"Come on, you can't stay angry forever!"

"My track record says otherwise."

"I think it's going to be fun! I'm looking forward to it actually."

"I already want to rip my horns out of my face at the mere thought."

"You picked this, remember that? It's your own fault."

"Shut up, no one likes a know-it-all,_ Missy._"

"Well then think of it this way, you sore loser! You're going to be able to say anything you like to me until I'm able to understand whatever the heck you're saying."

"…" He paused, eyes widening in realization, thoughts whirring around the situation and the possibilities. Natalie smirked confidently and stepped forward to close the space between them, prodding his chest with a finger.

"Got you now, don't I? Anything to say, Big Guy?"

_"Je vous déteste. Je ne peux pas vous en __**tenir**__. Vous conduisez me rend fou et je ne peux pas prendre beaucoup plus de cette merde. Je ai besoin de vous. Vous êtes un ennuyeux, gosse stupide, morveux, mais tu es MON stupide ennuyeux, gosse, morveux. Vous êtes l'un des choses les plus importantes pour moi maintenant. Mais je ne vais __**jamais**__ à vous le dire." _

She blinked rapidly and leaned away in shock, not expecting the sudden outburst from him, the strong emotion she'd heard in his voice, the stoically guarded expression he had on his face. Seconds ticked by and he didn't say anything else, merely looking at her, and she finally sighed, forcing a hesitant grin to play off the startlingly serious way he so carefully watched her.

"That was another insult wasn't it? Jeez, you really are _mean_ you know that? Can't even say anything I'll be able to remember so I can know what the heck you just said about me." She grinned, sweeping the moment under the rug and jabbing a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of home.

"Let's go home already, I want to relax, maybe take a nap."

"Fine." He sighed, finally taking his eyes off her and looking away. It made her gut twist for some reason, like something was off. Shrugging, she turned and continued down the sidewalk, jabbering on as he followed and ignored her excited babble. He fought the urge to gnaw on the inside of his cheek or bury the tips of his nails in his palms, she'd feel it and question him, and that was the absolute last thing he wanted. He swallowed the bile and lump in his throat, pushed down the cold empty weight in his gut, fought off the shake in his fingers. Memory replayed his words over and over as he forced himself to not say it in english where she'd understand.

_"I hate you. I can't __**stand**__ you. You drive me insane and I can't take much more of this shit. I need you. You're a stupid, annoying, snot-nosed brat, but you're MY stupid, annoying, snot-nosed brat. You're one of the most important things to me now. But I'm __**never**__ going to tell you that."_

He was running short on defenses. She didn't even_ try, _but she just broke him down little by little. She was wounding him, healing him, ruining him. And she had no clue. And that was how it needed to stay.


	10. Broken Nights

"Hand it over."

"No."

"What?"

"I said 'no'."

"I _said_ hand it over."

"And I said _no_."

"You aren't hearing me Kid. I said hand it over. So _hand it over."_

_"No,_ I'm watching something."

"Well I don't want to sit through your terrible taste in television, give me the damn remote already. I'm not sitting through this shit."

"Last I checked dude, this was _my_ house, and you have to obey _me_. There's no way you're getting this thing." She said haughtily, waving the remote in the air before turning back to her show. 'Stanley' growled from his spot on the opposite side of the couch, blunt human teeth sharpening at her comment. Whirling on her, he grabbed the remote and wrenched it out of her hand, smirking condescendingly as he waved it back at her in mockery as she glared disbelievingly at him.

The solid whack of a pillow hitting him across the side of the face caught him off guard, knocking his head back and making it reel as he vaguely caught sight of Natalie reclaiming the plastic treasure in retaliation. His teeth gnashed together roughly as she scoffed triumphantly, his fingers curling around the fabric of the throw-pillow she'd hit him with. Heat burned the side of his face and grew into his ears, his face reddening in rage and slight shock.

"Told you, you aren't getting thi-" _WHAM!_ The pillow came down across the top of her head, sharp pain shooting through her skull at the force of the hit. He forcefully wrenched the remote free once more, glaring hotly at her as she cried out, hands flying to her head. Fitfully, she grabbed the pillow back once more, hand rubbing sorely at the make-believe wound in reproach.

"OWW! Not cool dude, you didn't have to be so rough!"

"You started it, Girl. Don't start shit if you can't handle it." He responded blandly, already flicking through the channels with his prize. Natalie sneered, temper flaring before the realization of a challenge suddenly hit her, sparking her mood and making her grin. Without giving it much second thought –or even really thinking at all, she really should have done at least a little planning, in hindsight–, she raised her hands. Reeling back, she brought the pillow down and slapped him as hard as she dared to, knocking him roughly into the arm of the couch. As he was blind-sighted by the unforeseen attack, she shifted and pushed him off the furniture completely, sending him sprawling unceremoniously across the floor. She picked the remote back up, perched on her knees on the cushions as she looked down at him warily, watching him role over into a sitting position as he watched her. The cold, dangerous stare that met her eyes made her choke on her apprehension, the actions she'd just taken catching up with her a moment too late.

"You are playing a dangerous game, Girl. You are going to regret that _dearly_."

"H-hey now, you hit me too hard! That was only fair!"

"You think I hit you hard? I was being nice, that was nowhere near the range of trying to actually hurt you. But if you want to see violence, I'm all for giving it." Shooting up from the floor he grabbed her ankle in an iron grip, pulling with surprising strength and hauling her roughly off the couch, taking the couch cushion with her. She landed hard on the floor, bouncing off the carpet and groaning in pain as he moved passed her for the couch and the remote deserted on the disarrayed cushions. Her hand shot after him, knotting into the back of his shirt and pulling him back by the collar. He fell back to the floor and they tangled as they each tried to keep the other down, Natalie's grip tightening on his collar as his hand planted itself in her face, trying to push her away. She slipped under his arm, making a break for the remote right as he reached out, snaring her by the ever-present bun on her head, making her shriek as he pulled her back by her hair and pulling it free from the bun. Her hair fell down her back and around her face, tangled and uncombed before she turned and tackled him back to the floor, the thud reverberating around the room. He cussed and yelled as she pinned him down, trapping his hands by his head as she whooped in victory.

"Get the _fuck off-!_ You stupid- I'm gonna- _ARRGH!"_ With an aggravated shout he pushed up on her grip, wrapping his legs around her waist and throwing his weight against her, rolling them over and pinning her down in revenge. She cried out in frustration, forgetting who exactly she was fighting for a moment as she tried to pull her wrists out of his grip, scowling at his arrogant smirk as he sat straddled atop her. She twisted and made a move to shove him off as the sound of a door opening down the hall alerted their attention.

"Stanley, Natalie! What is going on in there!?" They froze, neither moving as equally wide eyes darted to each other. The sound of footsteps coming down the hallway echoed a moment later and Satan jumped up off of her, grabbing the cushions and shoving them back in place on the couch as she rushed to fix the throwpillows and any signs of their wrestle for dominance. They dropped down beside eachother on the couch as Natalie grabbed the remote once more, sparing a cocky smirk at Satan as she held it up. Opening his jaw, he brought his arm up and bit into his hand roughly, sending pain shooting through the hand that she held the remote with, making her cry out and drop the remote. He snatched it out of the air with a pleased smile just as her dad came in the room, confusion etched into his aging face as he saw them sitting closely together, Natalie shoving her stinging hand behind their backs to hide the bitemark.

"What in the world are you two doing in here? What was all that noise?"

"We were just trying to find something on tv." Natalie covered, forcing a smile at her dad as Satan leaned into the cushions, propping a leg up and flicking through the channels once more. Mr. McAllister hesitated a tense moment before giving a small shrug, walking over to the coat rack and grabbing his jacket, tugging it on as he turned to speak to the two teenagers.

"Well, I'm actually going to go run a few errands downtown, so I'll be gone for a few hours. Do you think you two can manage for a little while on your own?"

"Yeah, we'll be good Dad! We'll just hang here and watch tv." She grinned, earning an unimpressed glance from him over the rim of his glasses.

"And break the remote to the television because you two can't agree on it? I don't think so young lady. Actually I have a little favor to ask anyway. Could the two of you clean the backyard? The leaves from the trees are everywhere and they need raked up. I don't mean to ask a chore of you, Stanley, but two is faster than one after all, and you could both use the fresh air and exercise. It'd be a fun project for you both!" He said enthusiastically, smiling at the kids. Natalie's smile grew while Satan's fell completely.

"Sure dad, we can take care of that! We'll do it now actually, come on Stan!" She said, jumping off the couch as he gawked after her, watching her grab her jacket and pull her shoes on. Mr. McAllister laughed at their opposing reactions as he rubbed Natalie's head affectionately, turning for the door and walking out.

"Thanks kids! I should be back by about ten tonight, have fun!" he called as he shut the door, the clicking enough for Satan to grab the pillow and hurl it back at Natalie again, hitting her in the back. She laughed and grabbed it, tossing it back at him as she waved her hand in the direction of the back door.

"Come on, we said we'd do it, let's go!"

"No, _you _said we'd do it. As I recall, I didn't even get a word in edgewise."

"Tough break, you drama queen. Oh sorry,_ 'King'._ Come help me, it'll be fun!" She made her way into the hallway, fingers combing through her hair to gain a little order back, but she opted to leave it down instead of pulling it back up. Realizing she wasn't being followed, she stopped and turned back, sticking her head back around the corner to see him still sitting on the couch, arms and legs crossed to match his scowl. He diligently refused to look at her as she tapped her foot, staying put in his defiant tantrum. She smirked, deciding to bring out her new 'secret weapon'.

_"S'il vous plaît, aidez moi?" _(Please, help me?)

"….."

He sat still for only a tense moment longer, wanting oh-so desperately to fight it, fuck did he want to stay put right there, before cussing under his breath and finally throwing his feet to the floor to stand up, switching to his full human form and aggressively grabbing the spare jacket her dad left on the coat rack. Her smile grew wide as he shoved his hands deep in the pockets and grumbled to himself, stomping over to her and the direction of the door, not meeting her eye as he forced his face to remain cold. He forcefully attempted to hide the shame of being unable to deny her when she used her newly acquired skill. The shit eating grin she had proved she knew it too. It wasn't fair that she had an all new power over him, he was quickly losing a will of his own and it was really biting his tail. Damn, she was a fast learner though, she'd been picking up what he'd been teaching rather well, even for her. And he was actually enjoying their lessons despite himself.

"Remind me later, we need to work on your pronunciation, it's fucking terrible."

She pumped her arm in the air, a soft "yes!" escaping as she followed him out the door and into the messy back yard. Leaves were scattered everywhere from the trees, making a thick, dry layer over the dying grass, stark against the gray skies. She ran over to the side and opened the garage, rummaging for a moment before emerging with two rakes, seeing Satan kick a few stray leaves in front of his feet as she returned.

"Well, we can rake them up then put them in a bin when we're done."

"Do you think it'll have room for a duffel-bag weighing about, ohhh, 155 pounds?"

"Umm, I don't think so… why?"

"Too bad, I've got a red-headed teenager's body that needs to be disposed of after this is all over." He said offhandedly, taking one of the rakes out of her hands and walking into the leaf-battle-zone of a backyard as her jaw dropped in realization, offense writing itself across her reddening, indignant face.

"I am _not_ 155 pounds, you liar!" His lips curled in a teasing grin where she couldn't see, his back turned to her as he idly twirled the rake in the air in a display of boredom.

"Hmm, yeah you're right, I'd say its more 157 or around there. I was just rounding." He snickered under his breath, forcing his face to remain perfectly neutral as he peered over his shoulder at her, seeing her face turned red all the way to the tips of her ears, her cheeks puffed up and her shoulders stiffened in embarrassment. The sight reminded him vaguely of a chipmunk with too much food stuffed in its chubby face and no where to go, and he choked on a laugh in the back of his throat. She huffed, glaring at him as she stomped a foot angrily.

"There's no way you can know that, you're just being a jerk!"

"You have me pick you up all the time-which is annoying by the way-I think I can tell an estimated weight from doing that so often." He shrugged, turning back to face her and jabbing the rake into the ground, leaning against it. He crossed a leg in front of the other and smirked at her, enjoying the way she only grew more scandalized before her expression turned thoughtful, eyes glancing down at herself for a moment.

"Do I really look that big..?" She muttered curiously, raising her arms and twisting her hips in different directions to get better views of them, turning around in circles to examine herself. Satan stiffened slightly, eyes involuntarily tracing up the soft lines of her legs in her jeans and over the wide curve of her hips as she twirled and swayed on the patio. Sure, he was obviously exaggerating–quite a bit so in fact, she was nowhere near being that heavy, especially with how often he had to carry her–but even if she _did_ weigh that much, it'd still look good on her. She was curvy, but pulled it off rather well, if he had to admit it.

….._Very _well, actually…. She held herself well, and the few curves she had were almost _soft_ looking, plenty to grab and hold onto if so wished, or knead gently beneath persistent fingertips…

He jolted, suddenly realizing he was staring a little too closely to the rounded butt of her jeans under the edge of her hoodie, transfixed on watching the gentle back and forth sway of her hips from left to right and back again. Forcing his eyes back up to her face just as she was turning back around to face him, he forced his expression to remain blank, nearly sighing in relief as he saw her gaze was thankfully still focused on her legs.

"What do you think?" She asked, looking up at him expectantly. He only blinked, gears turning in his head as he drew a blank on what it was she could be asking about. His mind was still stuck on mental images of her waist and hips, all of which he was desperately trying to shove as deep into a corner of his mind as possible.

"…I think you take jokes too seriously, is what I think." He deadpanned, going with the safest answer he could think of at the moment. He had plenty of things he could say about her appearance, some purposely mean, and some he would sooner chew his tongue out than let himself speak. Her face scrunched, a miffed, annoyed expression taking over as she turned and jammed her fists into her hips once more, feet planted firmly apart as she glared up at him.

"So you _were_ being mean!"

"Of course I was being mean, how do you honestly still expect anything else out of me at this point?"

"Oh come on, you aren't nearly as mean as you try to be."

"Do I really need to beat up a kid to prove you're wrong? Because I can." He threatened, raising the rake once more, pointing it in her direction and raising it as though to bring it down on her head. She laughed and easily dodged it as it weakly fell, a soft thud hitting the grass where she'd been standing. She stuck her tongue out and winked, jogging into the yard and turning in the leaves to face him. Her hands rose to clasp each other behind her back, a teasing grin rising on her lips.

"So you don't think I look baaaad~?" She sang, snorting on a laugh as her smile grew, watching as he rolled his eyes and walked away from her to the other side of the yard, tongue involuntarily moving before he'd actually realized the weight of the words leaving his lips.

"You wouldn't look bad even if you _did_ weigh that much Kid, so just drop it already, damn. You don't give yourself enough credit, you're pretty enough." He was instantly grateful he was facing away from her, so she couldn't see his face as he realized what he's said. He stiffened, hand gripping the rake tighter as his eyes widened in shock, gritting his teeth against the reflex to cuss at his own slip. He could practically _feel_ her eyes in his back, and a small moment of desperation fueled his mouth.

"Pft-Hahahaha! Holy shit I can't even say that with a straight face, damn it. Jesus Christ, you should see your face hahaha!" He forced the laughter out as he ran a hand through his hair, turning and pointing at the silent girl behind him, face scrunching from the smile he faked. He leaned into the pole of the rake, pretending to wipe a tear away as he chuckled, his gut a bundle of nerves as he played the situation off, hoping that she wouldn't see through his acting. She had a knack for being the only one capable of reading through his lies, and it was becoming a problem very quickly.

Regardless, he smirked at her, not a single hint of his apprehension showing in his expression or body language, carefully watching her for a sign that she actually knew. She only stared at him a moment longer, before her nose crinkled, irritation taking over her expression once more, stomping her foot once more as she huffed at him. Bending down to grab the rake, she stuck her tongue out once more, turning around and walking to a large batch of fallen leaves as she spoke.

"Well you may not think so but I _know_ I'm cute! So I don't care _what_ you say!" She answered snidely, maneuvering the rake around to smack the leaves before her, her sour mood unintentionally lifting as she watched the dried leaves fly up into the air and land back on the ground, drawing a smile out of her. His gut twisted, feeling a stab of pain and guilt mixed with the feeling of a missed opportunity. At least she'd bought it. That _was_ a good thing right?

Sighing quietly under his breath, he pushed the feeling down as much as he could, determined on ignoring it just like he had been doing all this time. He started scraping the leaves together, scowling at the piles of brown and green as they collected, the colors becoming more and more aggravatingly mixed.

It was tedious, annoying and boring.

At least to _him_.

To _her_, it was fun, fun, and surprise-surprise, more _"fun"._ How she could find enjoyment in anything she did he couldn't understand, even after so long of being with her. Even _chores_ could be fun if she tried hard enough. It gave him a headache and made him question the safety of living with someone so obviously mentally deranged.

Watching her out of the corner of his eye, as time drew on it was clear this specific task was going to fall fully on his shoulders as well. She was playing in the leaves more than she was cleaning them, more interested in stepping on them to hear the crunch or throwing them up in the air with her hands or rake. Whatever meager, pathetic attempts she made at actually collecting the mess were quickly demolished in an onslaught of kicking, stomping feet as she threw them all around once more, watching the rainfall of dead, decaying leaves in joy. He groaned as she wrecked yet another pile. If he steered her just right, he could convince her to push a few piles into the large one they were collecting between them, but it was a trialing endeavor, with not nearly enough of a reward.

The large stack of dead greenery between them did not grow nearly as fast as he would have liked, and only amplified the amount of work that surrounded them.

The final straw was when she decided that the small groups of leaves she was playing with weren't enough. He had managed to look up just in time to catch the gleam in her eye as she stared down the symbol of all the work they'd _he'd_ been doing for the passed hour. The words "Don't you_ dare-_" died on his lips as she ran and threw herself into the mass, kicking them up into the air and laughing as he immediately dropped the rake. Stomping over to her as the leaves fell around them, he grabbed her wrist and yanked, hauling her over to the large tree and his goal underneath it. The tire swing attached to a thick, low hanging branch hung innocently enough, swaying in the light breeze, and he didn't hesitate on roughly shoving her into it, watching her stumble and grab the rope to keep herself level and on her feet.

"Hey! What the-"

"Shut up. Sit." He grit out harshly, pointing to her and then to the dangling tire. Pouting, she thankfully did as instructed, propping her foot and hauling herself up to straddle the top of the large rubber ring, watching as Satan nodded approvingly to himself, scowl creating deep lines along his face.

"Good, now stay _put_. Don't fucking move until I'm done doing _your_ chores, _again_. Got it?" He didn't bother waiting for a reply, already turning around as she reached out, nabbing him by the sleeve of his jacket and forcing him to look back at her.

"Wait, if I gotta stay here, at least push me! What's the point of a tire swing if it doesn't swing?" She chirped, bouncing on the swing in amusement and kicking her legs through the little hole. His lip raised in a silent snarl as he yanked his arm back, reaching down to grab the rim of the bottom of the tire between her feet. He didn't have the strength to keep up their banter, he just wanted this to be done and_ over with_ already; so with the hopes of finishing the yard quickly with her preoccupied and out of the way, he pulled the swing back as far as he could, walking backwards until the tire was held above his head and releasing it to let her swing back, squealing loudly in delight as she swung up high, holding onto the the rope tightly as her hair blew up around her face.

Wiping his hands together and turning back to the yard, he let her enjoy the swing, kicking her rake out of the way and grabbing his own to get the leaves together and thrown away. She smiled as he started cleaning the heap that she'd just ruined, watching him work as she swung back and forth on the rope, enjoying the height that she could reach and watching as the sky slowly began to turn dark. The creak of the rope and the metallic scratch of the rake in the grass was the only thing to be heard, but it wasn't as comfortable a silence as he'd have liked. The times when they could have silence and it'd be welcome and enjoyable were slowly beginning to dwindle to merely rare occurrences. The quiet air was thick between them, something that was beginning to be something they avoided, and neither was sure exactly why.

Well. _He_ knew why he was avoiding things more often. There was a reason he'd been avoiding a lot of things lately, actually. And it was becoming harder to stick to his resolve. He was passed the point of being frustrated that this was happening. He was almost angry now. It shouldn't be this hard to get rid of these thoughts, all this shit clogging his head and distracting him. He had shit to do, things to plan, an Apocalypse and War on Heaven to win. But instead he was constantly concentrating on some insignificant little red headed brat who was leeching herself to him and wouldn't let go of him. She was under his skin, infecting his head, weakening his heart-

"Hey, you're almost done!" Natalie suddenly called out, snapping him back to reality and out of his thoughts. He glanced back, seeing her watching him, sitting atop the swing where he'd left her, dangling limply as she held the rope, all of the swing having run out of the little play device. He glanced at the yard, seeing she was right; he'd nearly finished everything without realizing it. Sighing wearily to himself, he could almost swear he felt his bones creak, and had a single moment of empathy for Gabriel's endurance. He was alerted by Natalie jumping off the tire swing, jogging over to where he was standing by the pile. He instinctively stood in front of it, crossing his arms against her and glaring in anger.

"I told you to stay _there_ until I was done, didn't I? So back up Girl, you aren't getting close." He snapped, pointing accusingly at the abandoned swing as she rolled her eyes, maneuvering around him and heading in the direction of the garage once more.

"You _are_ done, you over-grown child. Let's get all of this in the bags." She answered, grabbing a couple of leafbags and bringing them over to the pile. He warily dropped the rake to the side, walking over and grabbing one of the bags offered, pulling it to the opposite side and taking the lid off. Peering in and setting the metal lid on the ground as he turned back to face Natalie, he clapped his hands free of dust.

"Alright, let's get this shit done alrea-" WHAM! For the second time that day, he was blindsided by the girl beside him. He roared at the large cluster of crusty, dried leaves that were shoved into his face and down his jacket, scratching over the skin and irritating it. He whirled on her, watching her laugh dwindle and die into a worried, questionable chuckle as he shook his shirt and jacket, dislodging the leaves from his clothes. He could feel his ears pointing and his fangs growing longer, and he used it to his advantage as he loomed over her menacingly.

"You want to go down this road again Kid? Alright. As you wish." He rushed at her, grabbing her and throwing her over his shoulder before she had time to turn and run. She shrieked, grabbing at his jacket and tugging as she was jostled and held like a large sack of flour. To say it was uncomfortable was an understatement. She planted her palms in the middle of his back and pushed herself up as best she could, trying to reach up and grab his shoulder, or maybe his head, just _something_ for leverage to pull herself up. Satan only chuckled to himself, arm wrapped securely around her legs just above her knees, keeping her from going anywhere on her own. She cried out in frustration once more, a fist pounding squarely into his lower back, though there was no actual attempt to hurt.

"Satan-! Put me down, are you freaking kidding me!? This isn't funny you jackass, your stupid huge shoulder is jamming into my hips, let me _go!"_ She cried, legs flailing futilely as she squirmed wildly in his iron grip. He only hummed to himself, taking a few steps to the side towards his rake. Tilting his head at it, he grinned, before bending down to "retrieve it", jostling her and shaking her in the process, making her head spin. More cusses spilled out of her mouth as he twirled the rake in his spare hand and poked the pile of leaves with it, pushing the edges in to make it taller and more padded.

She fought back as best she could, but it was almost pathetic how little she could do besides hang over his shoulder. She jammed her hands up his shirt, fingers skittering across his sides and ribs, but it sadly didn't do anything; it was like tickling a flesh-covered wall, and she gave that up quick enough. Just as she was debating taking a bite into his back or side, he suddenly leaned to the side, shaking and bouncing her until she was dizzy to the point of falling off his shoulder, unable to see which way was up and which way was left. That was the way it went right? Up and Left? She groaned, hand flying to her face to block out the motion sickness as her fingers knotted into his jacket as an anchor.

She opened her mouth to yell at him, but the sickness made her voice weak, her words slurring and her anger losing much of it's heaat.

"Satannn, if you don't put me down _right_ now, I swear to your dad that I'm gonna throw out all the candy and sweets that you've stashed all over the house! Now I order you, put me do-AHH!" Before she could comprehend what he was doing, he'd grabbed her by her hips, fingertips burying into the soft skin as he lifted her effortlessly over his head and dropped her straight through the air. The world tilted and spun as she was thrown into the large pile of leaves, the soft cushioning slipping into her own jacket as she flailed in it out of shock. She could distantly hear Satan's laughter over the sound of rustling and crunching leaves as she rolled herself out of the pile, landing on her knees on the ground once more. She stayed that way for a moment, eyes squeezed shut to fight off the dizziness as Satan's cackling only roared louder.

"You _suck_ dude, oh my god…"

"You said to 'put you down', and I believe I did. I even put you in a nice comfy pile of leaves instead of dropping you straight onto the hard ground. Aren't I a nice guy?" He snickered, taking a step towards her to stand above her body, tilting his head to get a look at her paled face. His grin grew as she glared hotly up at him, that spark of outrage in her eye that he'd come to enjoy seeing.

"You have a problem with twisting words."

"I'd say it's more a 'talent', but whichever you prefer to call it I suppose."

"You're an ass."

"Thank you, that's so sweet of you to notice~" He bit his lip against the uproarious laughter trying to break out as he held a hand to his chest, feigning gratitude at her words. She groaned, pushing herself up to sit on her heels as she fixed her jacket, twisting it back into place and tugging leaves out of the sleeves and neck hole. The feeling of fingers sifting through her hair caught her attention, drawing her eyes up to see Satan standing over her, his hands digging through her disheveled hair.

"What the heck are-" She started, but was interrupted by something small and brown being shoved into her face, involuntarily crossing her eyes to see what it was he held. Leaning back, she saw it as a crumpled leaf.

"Hold still." he said simply, gripping her jaw and pulling her face back to where it had been, fingers burying themselves into her hair once more to grab the leaves, silently pulling them out one by one and dropping them back into the pile. She smiled up at him as his hands combed through her hair, shaking the locks to dislodge any stray strands of grass or pieces of leaf.

"Thanks." She said quietly, and she barely heard him grunt in reply. Stepping around her once more, he pulled the rake forward and gathered the mess they'd made of the neat pile, readying it to finally be shoved into the bags. Jumping up, she joined him, and they made quick work of easily shoving the leaves into the bags and tying them off, to Satan's great relief. Throwing the bags to the edge of the fence. Natalie stretched, yawning loudly as she looked up and noticed the sky.

"Oh my gosh, Satan_ look, the stars!"_ She squealed, jumping up and down in glee, pointing excitedly at the sky. He looked up, following her view and sure enough, little white lights flickered against the pure black expanse of sky in a sizable gap in the dark clouds. It had been a long time since they'd seen the stars. Stormclouds had been masking the sky for so long, he'd almost forgotten that they existed at night. He'd never had an interest in them before, why should he notice when they disappeared?

"What's the big deal? Why are you so excited over a few balls of light?" He asked, watching her run back to the middle of the yard and turn to look up at them. Strangely enough, to him at least, she dropped straight down to the ground, drawing her knees up and crossing her arms over them, watching the sky in silence. He blinked at her, glancing between the tiny girl and the large sky, confusion knitting his brow as he walked towards her.

"Hey, I asked you what you're doing. What's so great about the stars?" She just smiled, her gaze not wavering from the twinkling lights above.

"Mm, well, nothing really, I guess. It's just nice to see them again when we haven't for so long. Who knows when we'll get to see them again? Isn't it nice to just enjoy it while we can?" Silence stretched for a moment after her words ended, before she heard a loud shuffling and suddenly felt a sturdy, heavy weight lean into her back, reclining a bit as a hand was placed between them as leverage. Glancing back at him in shock, she felt him shift into a comfortable position on the ground before his head swiveled slightly, his eye meeting hers for a moment. She barely had time to keep his gaze before he turned back around, leaning his head back to meet the back of hers, looking up at the sky.

Smiling to herself, she leaned back into his warmth, feeling that solid, sturdy protectiveness again. That safeness and security of being as close to him as she can get. It was always so comforting each time, and the level of that comfort both shocked her and didn't surprise her in the least. It was a confusing, hard to understand combination, but it worked and she enjoyed it, and she was content to just stay that way as long as possible.

Time passed by unchecked, and after a while they had somehow mutually shifted positions, deciding to lie back on the soft grass to look up at the sky, their bodies in opposite directions and their heads lying beside the other's. He crossed a leg over the other, tucking his arms behind his back to get comfortable before he felt a hand in his hair, toying with a few stray locks. Glancing over at Natalie, she was still watching the stars, but her hand was wrapped around the top of his head, gently stroking and toying with it again. Tilting his head back, his eyes remained on her, watching her secretly as his own hand came up to sweep some of the hair out of her face, idly twirling it around a finger. A small smile appeared, and her hand caressed the side of his face for a moment before the fingers returned to the hair.

His own hands itched to get a hold of her. To touch her, or hold her again maybe, he wasn't entirely sure exactly. He just wanted contact. His mind replayed the feel of her skin beneath his fingers when he'd held her over his shoulder. He'd been rather unwilling to let her go, but the threat of an order has forced him to release his grip. That last grip on her hips made his fingers twitch, subconsciously gripping and twisting the lock of hair in his hand as the memory played itself on repeat. Her own hands slipping up his shirt had left his skin burning, even as her cold digits had scrambled across the raging fire she'd created. She'd set him ablaze and he couldn't get enough of her to put the flames out or quench their burn.

He'd tried so hard to get rid of the itch, the burn, the want and the need and the craving. He didn't even know what exactly he wanted. He just wanted _her_. Everything to do with _her_. Everything all about_ her._

_Her, __**her**__, __**HER.**_

He was fighting a battle and he was losing, and it wasn't even the battle he was destined to fight to begin with. She'd thrown a massive wrench into all of his plans, and then thrown herself into the absolute shit-storm of a conundrum she'd created, determined to mess things up and fix them to her own preference. She bent and molded and twisted everything to her will, even himself, and he both desperately hated and begrudgingly revered her for it. How could such a small, mindless girl worm her way so deeply into his mind and body and soul and completely encase herself in his care? How could she be so adamant on remaining in his shadow and company, so sure that it was the thing she wanted? Why did it make his heart sink to his feet and yet make it soar above the clouds, as though his wings were as flawless as when he'd been in Heaven?

It worried him, it angered him, it thrilled him.

She worried him, _she_ angered him, _SHE_ thrilled him.

She brought out everything he tried to bury, to hide, to forget, and if it hurt to remember, she made it feel better as best she as could, along with secret apologies at bringing the pain to light. She healed and mended the cracks and fractures and deep wounds he pretended no longer affected him. She healed his pain and cured his wrath.

And he was grateful for it, despite himself. It made him want to keep her all the more, and he'd already decided he couldn't. It wasn't right, it wasn't fair, he couldn't do it. He'd decided long ago that he'd pretend he didn't feel so attached. But like everything else he tried to bury, she brought it right back out again.

He'd ignorantly hoped that if he ignored it, eventually it would stop. It would become a distant memory, a dull ache he could ignore and forget.

He'd wanted to think that it was all just in his head. He'd wanted to believe it as true. But it hurt and ate away at his mind the more he did. The more he pushed it away, the more it forced itself back into the light. Just like her. Just like everything about her.

He wanted so badly for it to stop. But he couldn't force it to no matter how he tried, and doing so only made it worse, it seemed. He stifled a groan in his throat, raising his spare hand to rub tiredly at his eyes. How stupid. He didn't even _get_ tired. He wasn't capable of sleep.

He wasn't capable of enduring this much longer, either. The shackles were slipping and the chains were pulling him down.

The feeling of her fingers slowing in their gentle stroking pulled his attention, and he turned to look at her again, watching her in silent judgement. Her eyes had slipped closed, and her hand was slowing to the point of barely moving. She was falling asleep. A small moment of irritation filled him, as that meant he'd have to carry her all the way to her room, which would be an annoying hassle, but the anger faded away, leaving a quiet appreciation for seeing her rest so contentedly next to him. Only she would feel at home with the Devil. Maybe that was why he only wanted _her_.

And he did. He wanted her, he wanted to have her, to hold her, to _keep_ her.

To kiss her like he never could. To finally release all the pent up frustration of needing her and forcing himself to pretend it didn't matter.

His gut twisted, pulling him away, telling him to stop, to get away now while he could, he'd been down this road too many times now. It was too familiar a scene. But that didnt' matter did it? None of it did. Whether he listened or he didn't, whether he obeyed or he didn't, whether he gave in or he didn't, none of it was going to end well for him. He always got the short end of the stick. He always received the worst fate.

That didn't mean he had to drag her down with him. But what could stop him?

He knew what was for the best. For her, for him. But he wanted her instead.

He wanted her.

He wanted her.

_He wanted her._

_He shouldn't._

He shouldn't want this, he shouldn't be leaning over her. When did he even move? When did he sit up and lean towards her? It didn't matter, he had to stop. His fingers twirled the same lock of hair around his finger tighter, like a band, like a brand. Her's. From the beginning, "her's".

The contract and his heart, both alike. They were her's to control.

And it was that resolve that brought his lips down to hers, their breaths mingling just as her eyes opened and she met his gaze.

He could see the understanding click behind her unwavering, unreadably hardened stare, the realization and the metaphorical "light bulb" moment of recognition as he stay frozen above her, propped on his elbows and their noses brushing, their lips so close to touching. So _close_. He could still feel her hair wrapped around his fingertips, the strands feeling as though they were burning through his skin, boiling his blood. An accusation.

For the first time in a centuries' time, he didn't know what to do-

"Stanley, Natalie! Hey kiddos I'm back, where are you?"

The air shattered. His head snapped towards the door, instinct driving him, forgetting about his slip only for the moment as he jumped up and snapped his fingers, taking his younger form as he heard the other man coming out into the dark backyard.

"Oh here you two are! Didn't you hear me yelling for you?"

"Uhh, no sorry. We were just… enjoying the stars." He answered weakly, pulling the hood of his jacket up over his head, keeping his back to Natalie. She was still lying down. He knew she wasn't looking at him, either. He swallowed around a sudden lump in his throat, feeling the non-existant sting. The pain in his chest, however, was all too real. He barely heard Mr. M. talking about the backyard and what a "good job" they'd done, and how "grateful" he was for their hard work, and blah blah blah. He forced himself to not clench his fists, to not bite his tongue, to not express his frustration. There was too much tension in the air, it was stifling, suffocating. He could almost _feel_ her pretending he wasn't there, and more than anything, he wished he could truly leave and not look back.

At least, he could get out of the situation, if only in a way.

"Yeah, hey Mr. M., sorry about this, but I gotta go. It's late, I need to be getting home and everything, you know?" He chirped out, forcing a grin that made his lips wobble for reasons he didn't want to name. He barely gave the old man a chance to say "goodbye" before he was marching into the house and out the front door, pulling it shut with enough force for them to hear it shut. Swallowing thickly, he forced the tremble in his hands down as best he could before jamming them in his pockets.

He'd fucked up.

Oh Father, had he fucked up now.

There was no way he could fix this. There was nothing left _to_ fix.

He'd single-handedly ruined everything. Again.

Fuck. Fuck _fuck FUCK._

Leaning back into the door, he sighed, forcing the throbbing in his head to subside and ignoring the incessant thrum of his heartbeat ramming into his chest. With a last deep breath, he pushed himself off the heavy front door, tracing the familiar path around the edge of the house to the small alcove of shrubs and bushes beside a specific window. It was still black, so she wasn't in her room just yet. He wasn't sure if that was good.

Bending his knees, he jumped straight up, landing silently on the part of the roof above her room, walking to a slowly-worn-down spot on the tiling where no one could see him sitting down. With how many times they'd had to fake "Stanley" going home, they'd made a routine.

When he went "home", he'd climb on top of the house above her bedroom, and when her dad went to sleep, she'd open her window and he'd slip back into the house. They'd gotten away with it countless times now, but now, it seemed tainted somehow. Everything about the situation was wrong. He was beginning to feel numb from the onslaught of guilt, and even shame.

There was nothing to be done though. Especially not right now.

He reclined onto the slanted rooftop, propping his arms behind his head as he looked at the stars above. The only witnesses to his mistake. They made him feel cold.

He closed his eyes against the small, accusatory lights, rolling onto his side to wait for her call. The thought of going back into that tiny room now made his stomach role, nerves overtaking his system.

But that confrontation didn't come.

She didn't call him inside.

He didn't go down.

Hours passed, and the lights in the house all went out. And still he didn't go inside. He refused to go back inside.

He wasn't sure if he was grateful or hurt that she didn't want to see him. That she didn't want him back.

His hand clenched at his chest, fighting the pain he felt there.

He shouldn't have done this. Was this his fault? Or hers? He couldn't tell. She was nothing but trouble, she only caused him stress and misery and constant problems, her and this stupid contract she refused to release. If she'd been smart, she would have run when she could. If she had just let him go, if she'd just minded her own damn business, things wouldn't have gotten this bad, they wouldn't' have gotten this _far_. It was all _her fault- _

But…

But he shouldn't have fallen for her. Not like this. Not at all.

But there was no stopping it. He'd tried. He'd fought.

He couldn't stop it.

And now, there was _no_ going back.


	11. Danger Nights

She could smell how fresh the grass was after being so vigorously raked and abused, crisp and dry from dying due to the cold weather, but still clean of leaves. It was comfortable to lay on, padded by her jacket as she laid on her back to watch the bright stars above, contrasting the black sky and gray shades of the clouds. Shifting restlessly on the grass, she lazily raised a hand and buried it into the dark pitch locks of the head next to hers, enjoying the coarse softness. She twirled the hairs gently around her fingertips and dragged her nails over his scalp, the simple repetitive motions bringing a comfort to her that she enjoyed.

The sudden unexpected feeling of an arm curling around her own head and slender fingers brushing softly against her cheek almost startled her. She felt him move some of the hair out of her face and curl it around his fingers, thumb stroking the coil he created, and she couldn't help but smile. Without giving it much thought, her hand sunk down to caress the side of his face in appreciation, hand curling around a sharp cheekbone and fingers dancing over a clean jawline. Her thumb stroked delicately across his cheek for a moment before it retreated, fingers reclaiming the black tresses and knotting into their claim once more.

The lights in the sky blinked away, utterly indifferent to the pair of them lying together so close and holding each other so lightly, and she took glee in it. Her eyes dipped, and before she knew it she couldn't bring herself to open them. Her fingers slowed from their place in his slicked back hair, too tired to continue and too eager to merely enjoy the way his own stroked so diligently at hers. She could feel the way her bangs and hair were moved around as he played with the thick locks, wondering in the back of her mind where she couldn't focus as to why it felt like he gripped the hair harder for a few moments, tightened his grip and pulled a bit sharply, but then let go again and returned to the comforting motions. The question slipped her mind a moment later though, too content to enjoy the feeling to care or question it further.

The rustle of the grass and the stir in the air of someone sitting up permeated her mind, accompanied by the feeling of someone being nearby; she distantly connected it with him moving closer, but the thought didn't catch up to her until she felt arms around her head, felt someone leaning closely over her, felt hot air on her face.

Felt hot breath ghosting over her lips.

It didn't catch up to her until the moment he was over-top her and her eyes snapped open in alarm, catching sight of a man who's face was far too close for her liking before her groggy sleep-induced haze faded and her mind fully understood why she could feel his nose brushing against hers. Why she could practically taste the chocolate he'd had earlier that day on his mouth. She watched as he froze, his eyes widening and staring down, locked on hers and as unmoving as her own gaze. She could see the alarm light them up, nearly making the iridescent orbs glow in the blackened night around them, the darkness that seemed all too close and tight, closing on them and how close they were, witness to the situation and her lack of response.

But she couldn't move. Couldn't bring herself to even glance away from those golden, yellow eyes, so much like a predators', always so fierce and hardened and cold. But now they seemed less dangerous and more like an alarmed animal, caged and cornered.

Fearful.

Much like how she felt herself. Her gut was twisting and she suddenly felt heavy enough to create a dent in the hard ground below her, like she was made of iron. Like she was being weighted down and pulled asunder by the situation they'd completely crashed full speed into.

She could see the light flickering in his eyes so clearly, she thought for a split moment that she'd be able pinpoint the exact emotions she saw there. His mouth twitched and she nearly felt the motion against her own, their mouths still so close. He still hadn't leaned away. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something but nothing came out, like he didn't know what to do. Neither did she.

"I-"

**_"BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!"_**

The blare of an alarm split the air, jolting Natalie out of her sleep harshly and sending her mind into overdrive. Shooting forward in bed, she nearly sent herself flying over the edge of her mattress in an attempt to find the sudden unknown shriek that had woken her up. Hand slapping around blindly on her nightstand, her fingers finally found the button and she quickly dispatched the annoying siren with a groan, remembering why it went off to begin with.

Monday. School. How fun.

Sitting up and letting the blankets coil and pool around her form, she raised her arms above her, stretching them and sighing as her muscles relaxed from the strain, her eyes blearily blinking to a far corner of her small room out of habit.

….An _empty _corner of her small room. Taking in the sight, her head immediately snapped in all directions, each new direction comprising the previous results. An entirely empty room.

She instantly felt a sense of unease at the realization, her sleep-clouded mind clearing all too quickly as the room suddenly turned too cold and silent in its emptiness and lacking of a 6-foot-plus tall Devil, the large man not there to take up its space in her bean bag chair. Ripping the comforters off, her feet hit her carpeted bedroom floor, mind already spinning reasons he could have left the house and seeking any loopholes in her orders that he could have possibly twisted to use to his own convenience. Her mind tilted and whirled in several directions and it took her a few moments to notice the sound of the television in the living room being on and some sort of talk-show echoing down the hall to her door. She glanced at her clock and saw the time, realizing exactly which day it was.

Her dad would have already gone to work by now. There was no reason for the television to have been on. Which meant-

Satan was just sitting in the living room enjoying the empty house.

A surge of relief stronger than she would have expected washed over her as she collapsed back to her bed, sitting for a moment to collect herself and push down the irrational worry -well okay, actually not that irrational, she had every right to worry- of him having run off. Breathing deep and sighing it out in a huff, she gave her heart a moment to slow down from its rushed rhythm, the jittery worry dying but leaving an anxiety that she already knew wouldn't leave. It hadn't left since last night, and it had been hard getting some sleep with it eating away at her stomach and making her feel sick with mixed emotions.

Flashes of the night before resurfaced fresh in her mind, and she couldnt ignore the twist in her gut as she remembered the look on his face as he'd hovered over her, so close, so _extremely _close to her lips; she knew exactly what he'd been trying to do, and getting caught hadn't been in his plan. Her cheeks flushed in heat and shame, feeling the guilt once more as she remembered how she'd reacted and left him out in the cold.

Figuratively _and_ literally, _shit! _She felt a stab of guilt and was instantly glad to see that he'd come inside of his own accord at some point, instead of staying outside.

She hadn't even let him inside from the rooftop last night before she had finally been able to go to sleep. She'd forgotten about it, too focused on what had happened and too unwilling to look at him to remember to order him back inside. She hadn't even slept with her puppet that he'd given her like she always did, instead pushing it farther back on its shelf where she couldnt feel its tiny eyes on her. She'd been too jumpy, too uncomfortable, too upset and too… scared. She'd been scared and she couldn't decide exactly on what. Probably a mix of things but she had to face it, she'd nearly been kissed by the _Devil…!_

….

And that wasn't even close to being a reason for her fear. That was the single thing that didn't bother her at all. Nearly getting kissed by Satan, Stan, Lucifer, her friend, practically her room-mate, the person she cared about, yes. _That_ scared her; but she'd stopped seeing him as "The Devil" a long time ago. It only seemed like a title or name, not what it used to be. Something to "fear". It just wasn't now.

She groaned, scrubbing her palms into her eyes as hard as she could and wondering when her life became such a damn mess before faltering. Abnormal and dangerous events, demons and angels, the Apocalypse and the End of Days were becoming her daily life, and _now _she considered _this _a mess?

Okay, she was in some serious need of fixing her priorities one day.

Forcing herself up, she grabbed her dresser drawers and yanked them open, rifling for something to wear and grabbing the first things she thought would suit for the day, not very much caring for putting too much thought into it today. She had more things filling her mind and making her dizzy than what to wear for school. Like why he'd even done that to begin with.

Why had he tried to actually kiss her? She was sure he had to have a motive, he always did. Either he thought it'd be funny or mean, or he had an ulterior reason, or he was doing it to mess with her head like a jerk. He always did things to mess with her head, even though they never worked. So was that what he was doing now? Messing with her head, being mean and making her second-guess herself over a possible kiss? He'd looked genuinely shocked and startled when she'd opened her eyes, and he'd rushed out of the yard so quickly she hadn't even had time to realize what was going on, her world had still been tilted. Would he really have faked all that just to mess with her? Why would he go through that much trouble just for a joke? What was she supposed to do?

Pulling her shirt over her head and grabbing her hairbrush, she looked in the mirror of her vanity, the eyes of the reflection staring into her own and giving her no answers that she sought. The tug of the brush through tangled and ensnared locks did nothing to help distract her from her confused thoughts, nor did brushing her teeth, applying her make up, or wrestling her supplies into her schoolbag, and all too soon she was standing before her bedroom door, hand hovered over the doorknob but unable to touch it, as though the metal would burn her flesh if she attempted. She was going to have to walk passed him to go to school, but she was petrified of the encounter.

Would they just pretend it didn't happen like everything else that they had? Or would he be angry about leaving him outside last night? Would he even notice she was there at all or would he pretend she didn't exist?

Fear of the answers only piled higher onto her list of anxieties as she grabbed the knob and twisted it, yanking the door open and trudging down the hall with feet of lead until she could see him sitting on the couch watching the television, reclined back with his feet on the cushions, despite all the times of being told to stop.

All at once it was as though she couldn't breathe. She froze behind the couch where he couldnt see her, not knowing she was there just yet.

When was the last time he'd actually intimidated her? She couldn't think of any where she hadn't actually had a reason to be. Any times that he had come close to scaring her had all been early in their contract, before they got to know eachother, before they were close, before they could banter and tease eachother and she knew he wouldn't ever actually do anything.

Before he'd….

She swallowed thickly and steeled her nerves, swiftly wrapping passed the couch and making a B-line for the front door, her nervousness making her talk a mile a minute as she rushed to leave, refusing to look at him. She couldnt, she just couldnt look right now….

"Hey I'm heading off to school, see you later! Don't worry about coming to get me, I'll just walk home on my own, I think I might stop by the cafe and I know you don't want to go there again cause of your brothers and stuff, so I'll see you when I get back home!"

"Hey Kid wait a second-"

"No time, Im gonna be late, sorry!" She threw halfheartedly over her shoulder as she opened the door and escaped out, pulling it shut and forcing herself to not sprint down the sidewalk until her house was long out of sight. Breathing in the fresh, un-stifled air, she felt a sharp pain in her heart at ignoring him like that.

He'd sounded like he had something to say.

But she couldn't.

Not right now.

Rearranging her backpack, she made her way down the road, eyes trained on the cracks in the concrete and thoughts on a million things, all pertaining to the Devil in her head…. and heart….

The chatter of students around filled her ears and she shoved her thoughts and toiling emotions down, lifting her head up with a shake and focusing on the school day ahead of her, eyes searching and finding Mike and Naira nearby. With a wave and smile to get their attention, she pushed Satan to the back of her mind, needing a small break from the emotionally exhausting situation.

…A break that she didnt get to have.

Throughout the day, she'd wound up losing count of all the times she'd been told to pay attention to the class, or even caught _herself _zoning out and focusing on the night before, either remembering the look on his face, or daydreaming about what had happened, or wondering about if she hadn't opened her eyes at all and he'd made it that last little bit of space down. That small gap between them that had felt all too close at the time, but now seemed like it had been too far apart. She felt the heat flood her cheeks again and shifted in her seat, sitting ramrod straight and forcing herself to listen to the teacher at the front of the class or focus on her schoolwork.

But she kept slipping right back into wondering what he had wanted to say. Was he going to confront her about it? Was he going to say something completely different? Maybe she should have waited after all, but maybe it was also a good idea that she had run away. There was no way to know what he was going to say, or if it even had to do with the night before. If it _had_, would he even bother bringing it up again, or had she shot down any chance of him saying whatever had been on his mind? She didn't have a clue at this point.

"Miss McAllister, again, _please _pay attention! If you are not going to be able to focus perhaps you should step out and go to the principles office and tell them why you are so distracted and unable to concentrate for the day." Her head snapped up at the grating sound of her teacher, eyes focusing on the irritated expression on her face. Stumbling for words she held up her hand, waving it and gathering her papers in embarrassment.

"No no, I'm really sorry, I'm fine!" she chirped in defense, face flushing in shame once more. Add another tally from being caught and distracted onto the board… She nearly sighed when the older woman scoffed and turned back to the board, continuing the lecture as Natalie sunk low into her seat with the hopes of disappearing into the floor. The day couldn't get out soon enough, but at the same time, it ticked by all too quickly. The sooner it got out, the sooner she'd be going home and back to Satan… And the thought made her sick to her stomach.

Maybe she really would go to the cafe after all….

As the time flew by and yet the day dragged on, she found the idea of a nice latte or treat at the cafe was a much more preferable choice then going home to Lucifer, and when the clock struck 3:30 she took a different turn than the usual one that would lead her back to her bedroom. Kicking a small rock along the pavement, she focused on deciding what she wanted from the cafe, wondering if bringing back a triple chocolate frappe for Satan would be a bad idea or not. Maybe she could use it as a peace offering to apologize for ditching out on him and convince him to tell her what he'd been about to say that morning….

She chewed her lip, kicking the tiny rock once more and watching it whiz forward before going between a pair of black shoe-clad feet standing in front of her. Jolting back, her head snapped up, eyes training on the person she'd nearly walked straight into without realizing it. Glancing him over, she felt the weight in her gut grow.

He looked like even more of a wannabe greaser than Satan did on his best days.

Ratty dark blonde hair that he had tried to style way too hard and a dark jacket that didn't look right on him at all mixed with a cocked uneven grin and beady eyes that reminded natalie of a bone-faced mongrel. She didn't like anything to do with him.

"Hey pretty lady, how are you doin'?"

"I'm decent, sort of. How are you?"

"Better now that I got my eye on a hot little thing like you."

Oh god, this wasn't happening, she didnt' have time for this. She had enough on her mind already, she just wanted her coffee and to maybe go home. Forcing herself to not blatantly roll her eyes she made a step to walk around him, intending to ignore him and focus on the completely different man at home that she was still stressing over. A surprisingly fast sidestep from the weasel beside her blocked her path and made her falter, and she looked up to see him looming over her, grinning down at her with a look she definitely didn't like.

"Where you goin' baby girl? Don't you wanna chat?" He asked, tone shifting to sound hurt as he took a step forward, backing her up a few steps to the side, pushing her into the opening of an alley. The brick wall to her back made her feel cold as his hot breath hit her face. His teeth were a nasty yellow and black that reminded her of bad corn, and he was all too close for her comfort. It was the second time a man had been too close in such a short span of time, but this time it didn't feel like it had with Satan. With Satan she couldn't explain it. With this guy though, she definitely knew she wanted him gone.

"Not really. Hey listen, I'm kind of busy and I got a lot on my mind right now, do you think I could get a raincheck on that chat and get back to you?" She queried, forcing a little grin and eying the sidewalk beside her. An arm came up to block her view, his hand on the wall beside her head as the other came up and brushed the hair out of her face, jolting her attention back.

"Aw don't worry cutie, I can help you forget _all _the bad stuff, what do you say huh?" Oh no way, not happening buddy. She jerked her head back, glaring at him disapprovingly.

"_Whoa hey! _Don't touch me dude, that's not polite. I don't even know you. Go hit on some other girl that's actually interested, if you can find one."

The smirk on his face fell before his expression suddenly darkened, the smirk coming back as he let go of her hair and grabbed her waist, pulling her flush against him and breathing more of his rancorous breath on her skin.

"Aw come on baby girl, don't be such a fuckin' pain. All's I want is to _talk_…."

Oh god she didn't like the way he said that. She pushed against his chest, trying to shove him off as he laughed, bringing his other hand down to grab at both of her wrists, his grip around her waist tightening and giving her no room to push him back. She couldn't even get an angle to raise up her leg and knee him where the sun didn't shine.

Flashes of Satan filled her mind on impulse, and she was suddenly deeply wishing she'd told him to come after all, regretting the decision to walk off without him nearby. Even if he did somehow decide to come pick her up, he wouldn't know she wasnt on the way home, but why would he even come out here anyway? Oh god what was she going to do, she was in so much trouble-

A tanned fist shooting through the air from the side slammed into the guy's face, knocking him to the side and causing his stance to falter, sending him careening to the ground. Natalie was sure she heard an audible sickening "snap" and didn't have to look at his face again to know that it had probably been his nose. Huffing as she stood back up straight, she leaned into the wall, glancing up as a third person walked up beside her, the person she assumed to be the one to attack her wannabe attacker.

"You can't even fucking walk _home _on your own? Just how _useless _are you?"

"…Stan."

She felt a cold dagger rip through her throat and down her chest and into her stomach as she looked up at him, his eyes cold and glaring down at the man before him on the ground, not even meeting her gaze. Refusing to look at her. A groan from the man on the ground brought her attention back, and she looked down to see him huffing, suddenly starting to writhe around in the dirt.

"Wha- what the fuCK_ DID YOU JUST DO!?" _

He screeched, looking up at them, and Natalie could catch a full view of the hit Satan had landed on him. His nose was crooked and pointing to the side completely and his cheek was already swollen. Blood dripped from his nose and mouth and, oh god she could see yellowed teeth on the ground, nope- she turned her head away quickly, fighting down the nauseous reflex at seeing the bloodied and broken teeth. Some things she'd gotten used to, but a few things still tripped her up and made her feel sick seeing. This was apparently one of them.

"What, you can talk big and pick on a girl, but you can't take a punch? Pathetic." Satan laughed at him, raising his fist up and pushing his sleeve back with a cocky grin. She immediately recognized him as ready for round two, and the hardened look on his face unnerved her. He was mad. _Really _mad. It was a bad idea to let him go after this guy, she had a feeling he'd actually really hurt him.

If not kill him.

The guy on the ground scrambled to his feet, wobbling and pointing accusingly at Satan, his hair a mess and sticking up as blood dripped from his wounds.

"_You..! _You're gonna fuckin' regret that you cocksucker..!"

Satan laughed again. Menacingly. Dangerously.

"What, you wanna play little boy? Come on, give me your best shot." Snapping to, Natalie darted forward and grabbed Satan's arm, tugging at it to get his attention and pull him back, though he stayed put, not even budging against her attempts.

"Hey now guys, why don't we cool down a bit! Calm down Stan, I'm fine, no need to rip the guy's soul out or something ha ha! Hey guy, why dont you go get that checked out, you don't look so good. I think you might want to see a doctor." She offered, hoping the guy would take the hint and run off before she couldn't stop the large demonic man she was holding on to. The sight of him reaching into his pocket and pulling out a knife and whipping it open shot down her only chance. Satan sneered and rolled his eyes.

"Oh you've got to be fucking-" the man lunged forward, and in the same flash Satan shoved Natalie aside, her back roughly ramming into the brick wall as Satan grabbed the guy's wrist as he tried to swipe at his chest. Bringing his knee up he rammed it into the man's ribs, twisting his wrist to make him drop the knife, and two more snaps could be heard from the bones and his ribs breaking as the knife clattered to the ground. The man screamed in agony, coughing roughly as his knees buckled, only Satan's hand wrapped around his arm holding him up from the ground. He glared up at Satan before his expression morphed into one of what Natalie could only describe as pure terror.

Satan's horns were growing out, long and sharp, glowing an angry, bright red. His ears pointed out to their full length and his teeth sharpened in his smirk that seemed all too close to a dangerous snarl. She jerked her head up as Satan raised his free hand up, his face obscured, and she felt cold dread course through her veins.

_"SATAN STOP!" _She yelled frantically, and his hand froze as he brought it down, too close to the man's head. A few moments ticked by and no one moved, until finally Satan's hand dropped down beside him and he let go of the mans arm, letting him drop to the ground, shaking and whimpering up at the Devil above him.

**_"GET OUT OF HERE!"_**he bellowed loudly, making Natalie jump, his teeth bared and gnashing at the crumpled man below him, making him hobble in a panic and shakily climb to his feet, running as fast as his injured and broken body could allow him away from the pair.

Natalie shook as she watched him disappear down the road, breathing slow and deep to calm herself down as she turned her gaze back to Satan. He still had his back to her and she felt a thrum of anger.

"Dude! What the heck was that about! You could have killed him!"

"I wasn't going to hurt him Kid, stop screaming." he growled, still facing away from her. She felt her face twist and turn scrupulous.

"I saw your face Satan. You could have killed him if you'd wanted to."

"And what if I had wanted to? Would you have let me? No, I'm sure you wouldn't."

"Of course I wouldn't, that was wrong!"

"Wrong? Kid he was harassing you, don't you think _that's_ wrong?"

"Well yeah of course, but killing him wouldn't have been okay either!"

"What the fuck are you getting so mad at me for, I just saved you, you're starting to get on my goddamn nerves."

"I'm mad because you're being a jerk! What is wrong with you? Why are you acting like this?"

"Why am I acting like this? What, like I give a shit of whether your attacked in some back alley by some cracked out fuck on the street? Well excuse me _'Mistress' _if I bothered you by fucking saving you from having some dirty piece of shit shoving his fingers down your pants." He hissed at her, shocking her with how bluntly he spoke as he turned on her, stalking up and backing her into the brick wall once more. She stumbled, looking hesitantly into his eyes as he loomed over her, bringing his hands up and slamming them against the wall on either side of her head, making her flinch.

He was just as close as the other man had been, pressed against her and leaning his head down so it hovered in her face, forcing her to keep it pressed to the wall and unable to turn her head to look away. She felt too hot, her face flushing as she felt his breath fall on her skin and his chest nearly pressed to hers. He smelled of chocolate and spice and a deep faint musk. It was too close to the night before. It was all too similar and it was making her dizzy and sick to her stomach again. All at once it was as though what had just happened didn't even matter, all that mattered was that they were too close and she needed some air. She was still on edge from the night before, she still didn't know what she thought about it and him being so close so soon wasn't helping in the least. Her nerves were going haywire as she looked up at him, embarrassed and jittery. She almost wanted to run. She wanted to push him back, she wanted to escape under his arm, _he was too close..! _

She watched his face morph and twist as he looked down at her, his eyes boring down into her own, cold and predatory and utterly enraged.

How dare that man touch her. How dare her grab her and pull at her and think for even a _second _he could get away with touching her against her will. His blood boiled and his hands clutched at the bricks, threatening to break pieces off with the strength that he gripped them. He felt sick and furious at the thought, at the sight, all he'd wanted to do was rip his disgusting hands off, keep him from touching her like that, keep him from touching her ever again. His urge to protect her, to keep her safe, his urge to keep her only to himself had only strengthened his fury. He was surprised he'd been able to keep himself from actually going through with killing him. She had been right, he could have if he'd wanted to.

But somewhere there had been a small voice telling him not to, to not do it, she'd be mad, she'd be upset, she'd be betrayed, and he'd listened and stopped when she'd told him to. He didn't want her upset. Especially with him.

Even now as he stood so close against her he could feel the anger fading slowly, her presence calming him down. The anger, the fury, the bloodlust gradually seeped out and allowed him some clarity to think, to focus on her. He looked down at her where he had her caged in his arms, pressed to the wall and no where to go. And he could see the alarm in her eyes. She looked anxious and nervous, leaning back as close to the wall as she could get, as far from him as she could get, her chest rising and falling faster than it should have been.

She looked scared.

She looked scared and afraid and the realization hit him like he'd been dunked in ice water.

What was he doing?

Why was he acting like this?

He had her pushed to a wall, caged and pressed so, so close to him, like he'd thought of all too often, like he'd wanted so many times, but it wasn't what he'd wanted at all.

He didn't want her afraid. He never wanted her afraid. She shouldn't be scared. She should never be scared of him. The one thing he never wanted was for her to fear him, to hate him.

And now she looked so scared that it made him want to be sick. It made his heart ache and burn and it made him feel all too cold and wrong.

_Wrong_.

This was wrong, he was wrong.

No.

He'd been _right_.

There was no way she'd be okay with him. Especially after what he'd done last night, after what he'd just done now. Of course she was scared, he knew she would be. Why would she be okay with the Devil like this? He'd just finally hit the breaking point, he'd finally crossed the line, pushed too far with her.

_It hurt. _

He hurt and he hated it and he hated himself.

Pushing back from the wall he stepped away from her, giving her space and the room to breathe that she needed. She slackened against the wall as he turned away from her, huffing as she brought a hand to her chest and turned her gaze up to him, questioning eyes raking over his sudden guarded behavior.

His fists clenched until he'd thought they'd bleed, the knuckles white and trembling. He clenched his jaw till it ached and turned for the street, stalking to the sidewalk.

"Satan?" She called worriedly, standing back up straight and pushing herself off the wall to follow him, jogging down the sidewalk. He ignored her, walking fast down the sidewalk back towards the house, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, forcing the trembling to not course up his arms, for his shoulders to not shake. He wished he could get the fuck away from her, it hurt to look at her now.

A small flash of red hair and pink backpack shot by his side before she stopped in front of him, arms outstretched and blocking his path, forcing him to stand still. He scowled down at her as she glowered back, pouting at his downed expression. He opened his mouth to tell her to move, to let him pass, to go to the cafe or find her friends or get her own way back to her house, he didnt fucking care, he needed away from her, but she suddenly lunged forward, wrapping her arms tight around his waist and hugging him as close as she could, her cheek pressed to his chest.

He froze as she tightened her grip, unsure whether to shove her off or not.

"Thank you for saving me. I wanted you to come and I was scared you wouldn't because I told you not to, but you did. I'm glad." She mumbled into his jacket, turning her head and burying her face into it for a moment before leaning back, stepping away and feeling a thrum of impulse.

Without giving herself a moment to second guess, she brought her hands from behind his back to his front, grabbing the lapels of his jacket and pulling him down to her height, pressing her lips to a sharp cheekbone, feeling him jolt and freeze up.

"I'm sorry I got upset. Come on, I'll buy you a triple chocolate frappe to make it up to you and as a thank you present." She said, turning and jogging down the sidewalk before she could give herself or him a moment to linger on the moment.

She had just kissed the Devil. Again.

She was surprised at how it seemed less like a bad thing than she had first expected.

It made her think to the night before again, how he had looked when she'd caught him. He had looked honestly shocked and cornered, and she kept getting a feeling in her stomach that he hadnt been faking it… Something was just telling her that he'd slipped up and she had to take it from here or things wouldn't be okay again.

She walked down the sidewalk with him trailing a few feet behind, wondering what they were going to do about it. There was really no getting around it, she knew that and she was sure he knew it as well.

But the question was, what did she_ want_ to be done about it…?


End file.
